Young Justice: Downfall
by Angelus-v1
Summary: Takes place one month after "Depths". Still reeling from the loss and capture of two team mates, the rest of the team faces an attack on the cave and must struggle to get back on their feet. But with more being taken out of action and an even bigger threat rising, those that are left standing must take a long overdue offensive before falling for good. Hope it's not too OOC.
1. Chapter 1

1.

The attack came without warning. For the second time in its history, Mount Justice came under attack from an outside force those inside were completely unprepared for.

Smoking debris littered the floor along with rock and metal from the cave's interior. The Zeta tubes cracked and popped, completely demolished with cables that once supplied them with power resting on the ground or hanging lifelessly from above. The kitchen was torn apart as was the living room and training area. The locker room showers flooded the gym area and workout equipment lay scattered about as well as through the walls. A large hole let in the early morning light where the arsenal was stored, leaving none, if anything, left of use.

Earlier that evening: 7:49pm

For the last three hours, Superboy, a.k.a. Conner Kent, was in the gym busying himself with the machines. The Kryptonian had his own special workout equipment supplied by the Justice League to compensate for his super strength. But after pushing himself nonstop for the last few hours, even someone with the power set of Superman needed to call it a night.

Exiting the showers and wearing a pair of blue lounge pants and a white tank top, Conner finished drying his hair with a towel as he went back to his room. Around an hour ago, Garfield called him for dinner. About three times actually. The second and third time he climbed on his back in monkey form and watched as he, as Garfield put it, "Kill the crap out of the bag." Now that he was done with his workout and clean, Conner was now hungry.

"Hey Conner," Garfield said when he heard his older teammate's bare feet slap on the tiled floor behind him in the kitchen area. "Pizza's cold, man. And Wally drank the last of the Gatorade." He leaned on the back of the couch and was still in his team uniform. A prehensile tail waived the remote behind him as his movie _Space Jam_ continued to play.

With a grunt, Conner reached into the refrigerator and grabbed a large pizza box. "He didn't touch my food did he?" He asked as he checked his meal, a pizza loaded with every meat topping imaginable except for anchovies.

"Nah, big sis kept it from him." The sound in the youth's voice was a mixture of explanation and worry. "Hey, uh, Conner? Can… Can you please talk to her?"

"About what?" Grabbing a new gallon of milk, the raven haired young man, hoped to himself it wasn't about what he thought.

"She's still not the same since last month. Since, since Artemis…"

"Yeah." Looking down, Conner sighed and knew he was half right. "Yeah. I've seen how she walks around here with her head down. It's bad enough with Artemis and La'gaan..."

"Um, actually, that's all. She's been talking about with me. She really hasn't spoken about La'gaan."

That came as a surprise to Conner. He thought M'gann would be focusing on them equally. "I'll, uh… I'll see what I can do. And check on Wolf will you? He was running around in the garage with Sphere." With that, he headed to the section of the mountain that held the rooms, but not before letting his green skinned teammate take a slice of his pizza.

"No anchovies?"

Without looking back and in in his usual tone of voice, Conner replied, "Don't like fish."

Garfield could only smile at his answer.

As Conner headed towards M'gann's room Garfield morphed into a monkey, albeit a green one, and scampered off to retrieve Wolf as he ate his slice of pizza. Nearing the Martian girl's room, Conner held the gallon of milk in his left arm to open it with his free hand. By the time he drank a third of it he was a few feet from his destination. A part of him wanted to look at Artemis' old temporary room but he managed to concentrate on drinking the milk. With the gallon being held against his body and recapped, he reached out with his free hand to knock on her door, but hesitated before his knuckles came into contact with the solid metal barrier. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know what he could do to console the young Martian woman on the other side of the door who lost her friend and boyfriend in one day. Granted he didn't care much for the latter, but Artemis was a different story.

"Where's Nightwing when I need him?" He mumbled before he knocked. "M'gann? M'gann, it's… It's me, Connor."

It took a moment, but the door finally slid open. After stepping inside, he saw she was sitting on the edge of her bed wearing a pair of silk purple sleep shorts and matching tank top with her hands clasped in her lap and head down. Her eyes were puffy and her cheeks still looked a little damp. It took a while for either to say anything until Conner remembered to breathe. She still had that effect on him.

"Garfield. He… He wanted me to see how you were doing."

She didn't say a word, only stared at him.

"The others, Nightwing, Robin, Wally… They and the others went home." He shuffled nervously while holding the pizza box and milk jug, trying to think of what else to say. "Did… Did you, uh… Did you eat any…"

He stopped talking when M'gann's eyes squinted and she let a sob escape her mouth. Tears once again flowed down her face and for the second time since he knew her, Conner felt his heart crack when she started to cry.

"Hey." Dropping his pizza on the floor and slamming the milk jug on her dresser, he quickly made his way over to her bed and took her in his arms. "It's okay. It's okay."

She bawled in his chest, clutching the fabric of his tank top and holding him tight. He in turn had one arm wrapped around her shoulders and the other one holding her head as she continued to cry. After a moment Conner noticed Garfield peeking his head around the corner of the open door. He, along with Wolf, went back to the living room after Connor tilted his head, signaling them to give him and M'gann a moment.

With a few minutes passing to allow M'gann to cry, Conner continued to hold her. His new shirt was soaked with her tears, saliva, and mucus. But despite it all he let her get everything out until she had nothing left.

"M'gann, it's…"

"I'm sorry," she said with a sniffle.

"It's fine. It's just a shirt." Separating to let her get a couple of tissues to clean her face, Connor took his soaked shirt off and made a mental note that he may need another shower after this.

"It's not that," the green skinned girl said. "It just… It's just with all this… That's happened… I just needed to…"

"M'gann, we'll get Kaldur for what he did to Artemis. Don't worry. And we'll…" The next part took everything he had to say. "We'll get La'gaan back for you. I promise." The Atlantean's name felt like a curse on his tongue.

She looked up at him after cleaning her nose. "Conner," she reached out for him and hugged him as tight as before. "I'm so sorry."

"I said, it's fine." He wrapped his arms back around her.

"No, not that. I'm sorry for what I did. For everything I did to make you leave me."

"M'gann…"

"No, listen. If I would have listened to Uncle J'aan… If I wouldn't have kept using my mind rip power… If I never tried to make you forget… None of this would've happened. I'm a horrible person."

"No you're not." Conner tightened his hold on her. "You made a mistake. I know; look at all the bad things I've done."

She looked up at him with watery eyes. Since the early days of the team, she's always known him to be the emotionally driven one and she was the logical thinking one. Somewhere along the lines they rubbed off on each other and now here he was trying to comfort her like this, something he most likely would have done at the beginning as he was cold hearted to those around him.

They were extremely close and old feelings came roaring back to them. Their foreheads touched first. They could feel each other's warm breath on their faces and could smell their natural scents. Before they knew it, their lips met in a deep kiss like the ones they used to have so long ago.

"Wait," Conner said as he broke the kiss. "This… This is… I…"

"Conner," M'gann whispered softly to him. "I know but… I never stopped loving you."

"M'gann I…" He couldn't hide the feelings he had for her in his eyes and pulled her tightly towards him.

"Conner," she said as she ran her hands through his hair. "I only ever wanted you. It's always been you. I've missed you."

"As long as we're on the same page," he said before kissing her deeply again.

After a few moments of sitting up, both young heroes moved to lie down on her bed as she telekinetically shut the door. She held onto him tightly, one hand wrapped around his head to keep them in place and the other wrapping around his upper back. He in turn kept her close with his arm around her lower back as his other slowly lowering them so she was lying on her back. Once he was on top of her, she wrapped her legs around his waist as he moved one hand to feel the curvature of her hip and thigh while they continued to kiss.

Out in the living room of Mount Justice, Garfield was mindlessly flipping through channels. From what he saw earlier, he was hoping his blood sister was feeling better after talking to Conner. He knew how much she cared for him and vice versa and had been trying to get them back together for what seemed like forever. It was clear as day to him that both were miserable being apart. Sure she had La'gaan but she never acted like she did when she was with Conner. Almost as if she didn't want to get too close to the Atlantean in the same way she was with the dark haired, blue-eyed man. It was as if she were only half alive.

After a few hours of watching old cartoons on one of the nostalgic channels, he called it a night and turned the TV off. Feeling too lazy to go to his room, he morphed into a bloodhound and made himself comfortable like Wolf had done in the kitchen.

A few hours passed when he was woken by a loud bark from Wolf. Quickly sitting up, he came face to barrel with a rifle pointed at his head. The sight of the weapon made him leap out of the way just as it fired. He heard the TV explode behind him as he yelled for Conner and M'gann.

"Fire in the hole!" One of many black clad soldiers yelled.

Turning back to his human like self, Garfield had just enough time to see a grenade flying his way before he tried to leap out of the way. He was caught in the explosion and crashed into a nearby wall, feeling a sharp crack in his leg.

"Kill him. Take them out," another soldier ordered.

The moment the nearest soldier raised his weapon, A familiar voice yelled, "No!" and the soldiers weapon was instantly destroyed.

Ripping their helmet off, one of the soldiers unloaded shot after shot on the others. Several of the weapons exploded as the maskless soldier took cover in the kitchen.

"Garfield! Are you with me?" The soldier was Artemis, still in her disguise with the dark hair and skin. Once she was in the kitchen, she activated a secret panel in the floor and took out a crossbow and small quiver of bolts.

Five minutes earlier:

Inside M'gann's room, she and Connor lay peacefully in her bed. He held her close with his fingers raking through her short chopped auburn hair as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Just like old times," she said with a grin.

"Except we still have our clothes on." Shifting slightly, Conner placed his hand on hers, which was on his stomach. "We'll get them back. Just as soon as we find them."

"I don't know what I'm going to tell La'gaan. He was sweet, but… I never felt like…"

"Shh." Sitting up, Conner crooked his ear toward the closed door.

"What is it?"

"I thought I heard footsteps but they're real faint."

"It's probably Garfield getting a late snack. He likes to change into a dog or raccoon when it's night." She looked up into his eyes and stroked his bare chest. "Lean back."

He did as he was told with a grin as M'gann rose her right hand to put her fingertips on his left temple. "You never did this with…"

"Never. We never went beyond kissing. We never touched minds like you and I did."

As Conner rested his head on the pillow, M'gann began to meld their minds together. Her eyes went from a hazel color to a glowing green. It didn't take long before they both received a euphoric feeling fall over them as their minds touched. It was as if they ceased to be separate individuals and had become one. She leaned down and kissed him softly, a gesture he eagerly returned. The feeling was short lived; however, as a loud explosion occurred from down the Hall.

"What was that?" Conner said while getting up.

"Garfield?!" M'gann yelled.

"Conner! M'gann!" They heard their younger teammate yell.

Conner was the first to get to the door, nearly crashing through it before M'gann opened it with her telekinesis. No sooner had he stepped into the hallway when he heard a voice yell, "Fire in the hole!"

"Get down!" he yelled at M'gann, who was right behind him and tackled her to the floor a second before a large explosion occurred.

"M'gann?" Conner gave her a quick look over to see if she were injured.

"I'm okay… Garfield!" Her eyes went wide with the fear of her blood brother being caught in the explosion.

"Garfield?!" Conner yelled as he dashed down the Hall. "Garfield!"

Reaching the living room, he could have sworn he heard a familiar voice but didn't have time to see who it was when he was hit by a barrage of gunfire. Forced to take cover behind a rock wall, he tried it to see how many threats there were around him when he saw an unconscious Garfield lying on the ground across from him. His blue eyes grew wide with anger as he felt the rage rise up inside him.

"Conner!" M'gann yelled as she flew down the Hall. The only response she received was an angry growl and yell as Connor came out from his cover and ran into the fight headfirst.

Coming out of the hallway, M'gann froze at the sight of Conner fighting a group of Manta soldiers and the body of Garfield lying in the corner. "Garfield? Garfield!"

To be continued


	2. Chapter 2

2.

With a gluttonal roar, Conner leapt into the thick of the fight. Hundreds of rounds struck him but did no damage whatsoever. They couldn't penetrate the skin of the Kryptonian but the soldiers never let up on their attack. Despite his near blind rage, Conner managed to yell at M'gann that he was fighting Black Manta's soldiers and for her to help Garfield.

One after the other, Conner punched, kicked, and threw each soldier he came across out of his way. Weapons were broken, smashed beyond recognition as he continued to lay waste to all those that intruded upon their home. Despite his best efforts, more soldiers continued to rush into Mount Justice. It didn't matter though; they just give him more enemies to hit.

"Garfield? Garfield?" M'gann slid beside her blood brother and pressed her fingers to his neck. She was relieved he had a pulse. "Oh… You're leg." She was shocked to see Garfield's right leg was broken with the tip of the bone sticking out.

"Get him out of here!"

That voice. She recognized that voice. "Artemis?"

Removing the amulet from her neck, the dark hair and skinned woman referred to as Artemis gained her lighter skin shade and blonde hair back. "I'll explain later just get him out of here!" She came out of cover to fire an electrical arrow, taking out three Manta soldiers in one discharge.

Levitating her injured blood brother, M'gann sent him into the hallway and into one of the rooms where she placed him on a bed. With him out of harm's way, she turned her attention to the battle at hand. She still couldn't believe Artemis was back but there she was, firing arrow after arrow from the kitchen.

"Get out of our house!" Raising several chunks of broken rock, M'gann hurled them at the soldiers surrounding Conner. Several dove out of the way but others weren't so lucky as they were sent sprawling across the floor like bowling pins.

Taking out another soldier with a gas arrow, Artemis ducked behind the counter she used as cover to reload. Before she could get another shot off, a soldier armed with a knife attack her. Rolling out of the way in time, she aimed her crossbow at the attacker but lost it when he kicked it out of her hand.

"Rrrragh! Come on!" Artemis grunted as she engaged her attacker in hand-to-hand combat.

Rights and lefts were counted and re-countered as both fought for dominance. The soldier thrust his combat knife at Artemis' face but was blocked as she flung one of the cabinet doors open to catch the bladed weapon. Three of the six inches of metal punctured the wood and refused to be released. She followed it up by grabbing a frying pan from a nearby hook and whacked her opponent across the head. Placing her hands on the countertop, she lifted herself to plant both feet in his chest before grabbing a gel arrow and detonating it on the Manta soldier's head.

As the gel incapacitated the soldier, Artemis grabbed her weapon and fired a bolt to the ceiling behind M'gann to make several heavy chunks of rock tumble down, taking out a few soldiers who were trying to flank her as she went hand to hand with one of her own before telekinetically throwing him aside.

"Get out of here!" Conner yelled.

Lifting a soldier onto the shoulders, he planted his barefoot in the face of another to knock him back then through the previous one into a new group making their way in. As he went back to fighting the others, he failed see a large, masked, imposing figure stomp his way in past his fallen comrades. The black and blue individual monitored the fight with no one paying him any attention. Reaching behind him, he pulled a pistol from a holster and handed into the fray.

"Let's see you dodge this," Sportsmaster said as he carefully aimed his weapon.

Dispatching yet another soldier, Artemis grabbed another bolt as she saw her father, Sportsmaster lower his weapon in M'gann and Conner's direction.

"What the… Dad?" She reloaded her crossbow and took careful aim at his head.

The moment Artemis fired, so did her father. A moment after the bullet left the chamber her arrow struck his mask, knocking it off and blinding him as it burst into a bright light. As for the bullet, its trajectory took it on a path to the two heroes until it struck soft flesh.

One of the soldiers who was held in the air fell to the ground as their opponent felt the hot sting of the bullet. A shocked expression took over their face. They couldn't believe such pain could happen to them. It was something they've never experienced as fresh blood poured from the wound.

"M'gann!" Artemis yelled.

The Martian girl dispatched of several more soldiers using a computer terminal and turned to look at Artemis who pointed at Conner. Her eyes grew wide as she saw the super powered young man fall to his knees then to his side.

"Conner!" She screamed as she flew over and landed on her knees next him.

Turning him over. She saw a hole in his chest spilling blood freely were his left lung is. Veins pulsed thickly under his skin and turned green from the entry point of the wound. "Conner? Conner?!"

He looked upon her with an expression she had never seen before on his face. It was a look of pain and fear. His breathing was erratic, forcing him to take short quick breaths. Every muscle in his body flexed with the green colored veins slowly spreading out. Seeing him in such a state, M'gann felt herself lose control. Her eyes shone bright green as she felt her anger grow. After placing him down. She let out a long, loud yell that turned into a roar as she morphed into her true white Martian form.

"Oh crap," Artemis said. They crossbow wielder ducked behind the kitchen cabinet and tucked her head down.

What was left of the conscious soldiers panicked upon seeing the alien monstrosity and opened fire. Their attack was futile as every round that was fired came to a halt in midair when the Martian held up one of her three fingered hands. Again, her eyes shone brightly and with another roar, she sent a powerful telekinetic wave through the interior of the cave. The soldiers and Sportsmaster flew out to the garage area, the exact way they came in. Those that were unconscious looked like rag dolls on the concrete floor while the others tried their best to retreat into a waiting drop ship. With one final telekinetic wave, M'gann made the garage entrance collapse to make sure none could re-enter the mountain.

Looking back down at the bleeding Conner, she returned to her usual green skinned self. "Conner?"

"Move," Artemis said as she slid beside them.

"How, how are you…"

"You want an explanation or do you want to save his life?"

Conner's breathing began to slow but was still extremely shallow.

"What's happening to him?" M'gann asked. "What did they do to him?"

"Kryptonite bullet. I didn't think they would use it outside their base. I didn't even think my father would be here. This was only supposed to be a scouting mission, not a seek and destroy one. This wasn't supposed to happen."

Artemis quickly flipped Conner over and cursed to herself when she saw the bullet didn't go all the way through.

"Get him to med-bay now. Get both to med-bay and contact Red Tornado in Watchtower. I don't know how they're going to get in here but I need help if I'm going get the bullet out."

8:59am - Next Day.

It was maybe five or 6 AM before anyone from the outside arrived. It took the combined efforts of Captain Marvel and him Capt. Adam to create a way in since the Zeta tubes were destroyed. Wally and his grandfather rent supplies in from town with what was left of the leak standing guard both on earth around the mountain and in Watchtower.

Black Canary and Zatanna were in med-bay tending to both Garfield and Conner alongside Artemis. Garfield's injuries were light compared to his older team member, a broken leg and a light concussion. Conner's were more severe and had to be dealt with extremely carefully with the Kryptonite bullet lodged in his left lung. After some long hours later, Black Canary arrived back in the living quarters, what was left of it, with Red Tornado behind her.

"Okay, everybody," Black Canary said as she took off a pair of medical gloves and scrubs. "I've got some good news and bad news."

"How are they?" M'gann rushed before the two, anxious to get answers.

"You might want to sit down for this."

With her skin growing a shade paler, M'gann went back to sit on the charred couch. Extra chairs were brought in for the others and those who were busy cleaning or repairing what was destroyed stopped whatever they were doing and gave the blonde Justice League member their full attention.

"Garfield is going to be okay. We set the bone back in place and stitched him up. He also sustained a light concussion and a few nicks, cuts, and bruises. He's under sedation but will pull through. As for Conner…" She looked over at Red Tornado who took over for her.

"The projectile that impacted with Conner consisted of fifty percent kryptonite. Unlike other firearm projectiles this one did not break through clean or tumble upon impact. Instead it acted similar to a high velocity round coming into contact with water where it…"

"English, por favor," Jamie, known as Blue Beetle interrupted.

"Yes, well, in short, the bullet shattered into numerous pieces that we couldn't retrieve. They have also entered his bloodstream and are spreading throughout his body."

"So, what's going to happen to him?" Cassie, Wonder Girl, asked.

"We don't know much about Kryptonian physiology," Black Canary admitted. "It's actually good fortune the kryptonite is in his system or else we wouldn't have been able to hook him up to our medical machines or, or insert an IV in him."

"So how's his condition down?" Batgirl asked.

"He's stable. I had Tornado help me get him into his old Cadmus Solar Suit and move him into a medical room where he can get all the sunlight he needs. Since he's basically like Superman, were hoping doing that will help speed up the healing process."

"Can I see them?" M'gann asked.

"Yes, but only for a bit. Zatanna's with Garfield and he's not completely under so he might say some… loopy things. As for Conner, he still hasn't woken up yet."

Looking over at Artemis who was patching up some minor scratches on her, Black Canary took balled up her scrubs and latex gloves. "Artemis, I think it's time to explain yourself."

9:37am

Miles away in an underground chamber, a maskless Sportsmaster stood in near darkness before several large screens. Bright white lights shined down upon him as he updated the ones known as The Light of his missions status.

"The mission was only half a success," Sportsmaster said. He was still having a hard time seeing from that flare arrow that ignited it his face. "Intel was correct that the animal kid, Kryptonian, Martian girl, and wolf were within the mountain.

"And what of the entrance to the base?" A member of the light asked.

"A little too easy for my taste. The prisoner's Intel was more than useful. We got in without tripping any alarms, got them out in the open and took two of the three out along with that mutt and metal ball using an EMP."

"And which three were that?" Another one of the images asked.

"My men took out the animal kid, beast boy, first. I took out the Kryptonian after that with the kryptonite bullet."

From one of the monitors, the bald industrialist known as Lex Luther grinned evilly when sports master mentioned the bullet he manufactured for the mission.

"The downside to the mission was the inclusion of my daughter, Artemis. If not for her, Beast Boy and the Kryptonian would be dead. As it is, the kid is alive but severely injured and the clone should be dying. I hit him square in the chest. There's no way he'll survive."

"And what of the Martian?" Queen Bee asked.

"Had it not have been for my daughter, I would have used the incinerator around. The subsequent flare she used bought the Martian enough time to push us out of the mountain. Oh, and someone also shot the mutt sometime during the battle. But I don't know how severe it was."

They were quiet for a moment and Sports Master began to lose patience with the continuously unbroken silence until finally the members of The Light spoke up. "Despite your failure to eliminate the targets within Mount Justice, your mission has been a success. You demoralize them, you eliminated two of the three targets, and Artemis believes she was still an undiscovered mole. Overall, good work."

To be continued


	3. Chapter 3

3.

9:43am: Mount Justice

"Oh, that was sooo good." Leaning back in his medical bed, Garfield rubbed his stomach and had a rather large smile on his face as he released a loud burp. Residue from his breakfast of French toast, eggs, and bacon covered his chin and upper part of his shirt.

"Glad you enjoyed it," M'gann said. "Artemis said there's only so much you can do cooking on the grill."

"I thought you made this."

"Gar, I haven't really cooked in…"

"I know, I know, in forever. You only really cook when you're happy."

"And what does that mean?" She said while taking his plate and added it to her own along with his and her drink glasses. Her telekinesis made this act easy as everything floated into the air before her, which in turn freed her hands to straighten out her denim skirt and white shirt.

"I means you haven't really smiled since you and Connor…"

"Finish that sentence and no more bananas for you, ape boy."

"I know you haven't talked about La'gaan since the first day he was captured and I've seen the way you look at Connor when he's not looking at you." He couldn't help but grin from the red face on his Martian sister. "Blood Brother's intuition. It tells me the important things."

"That's it," M'gann told him while leaving his room and trying to suppress a grin. "No more bananas."

"Does that include banana ice cream?" he asked as she left.

After leaving Garfield's room and placing the used issues on a serving cart just outside the door, she made her way over to Connor's room further down the long brightly lit beige hallway of the medical bay. Her footsteps lightly echoed on the tile as she passed by a couple of empty rooms. This was the only section of the cave that remained untouched from the attack, which was fortunate considering two of her teammate's injuries. As she drew near the room where Connor occupied, she was surprised to see be door open. She was even more surprised to hear the voices of Dick Grayson, Nightwing, and Wally, the former Kid Flash.

"So, do you think you will work?" she heard Wally ask.

"Don't know," Dick responded. "It's worth a shot if anything, it may even speed things up. If Batman were here or even Superman I could…"

"How is he?" M'gann asked from the doorway. She ran a hand over her right forearm and had her head slightly down.

"Um, uh…" Both Wally and Dick said. A moment passed before an answer was given.

"He hasn't shown any improvement or has got any worse," Dick told her as he ran a hand through his black hair. "Yesterday it seemed like his body was getting rid of the remaining Kryptonite but nothing's changed since then."

"We've, uh, we've also been talking to the guy Artemis incapped from the kitchen. He's holding some info but he's also giving up a little at a time without realizing it. It would go a lot faster if you would do your mind mojo on…"

Elbowing his red-haired friend, Dick hissed at him to shut his mouth. "M'gann, you don't have to do that if you don't want to. I just hope you understood the reason we've kept all this from the rest of the team. It's not because we didn't trust you, it's because the fewer people who knew, the better."

"I'm not mad at you, Dick. I'm just still upset that you and Wally would do such a thing after all we've been through. I couldn't even believe Artemis didn't tell us. You don't know how much that hurt thinking she was dead and Kaldur was a murdering traitor."

Passing both heroes, she made her way over to Connor's bed and leaned on stiff arms on the side guard. The angry scowl that was almost always present was gone and was replaced with a content like expression. It was almost identical to the one he had when he was alone with her.

"He'll pull through this Megs," Dick told her. "He's our Superman. And you know nothing can take down Superman for long."

"Yeah, and who's never heard of Superman dying?" At those words, Wally received another elbow to the ribs. "Ow, okay, okay, sorry."

M'gann brushed a few strands of hair from Connor's face. She remembered doing that very thing three nights ago for the first time in a long time, too long. "Could you please give us a minute?"

"You've been spending a lot of time alone with him in here," Dick pointed out. "Is there something I need to know about?"

"Let's just say the fewer people who know, the better."

"Dude, I think that's our cue to leave," Wally said.

After both he and Dick left the room, M'gann telekinetically shut the door behind them. She couldn't help but overhear a comment they made about her and Connor potentially being back together and expressing their concerns about it. They needed her focused on any further missions that may pop up dealing with who attack them instead of having her mind on Connor. Regardless, she paid them little mind as she caressed the side of his face.

"Please, wake up."

A look at his bandaged chest showed the same since yesterday. Sickly green veins stretched out in branches from the wound underneath. She could barely hear him breathe over the sounds of the respirator and heart monitor. Black Canary was right, the kryptonite poisoning was both a good and bad thing as it also allowed them to hook up whatever machines they needed to help keep him alive and monitor his signs of life.

"I should have watched your back better," she said while holding his hand. "I just thought nothing could hurt you like that."

As much as she wanted to, she didn't attempt to enter his mind. Her uncle warned her about entering a comatose person's mind and the dangers of what she could inadvertently do to him and herself. After discovering and using her mind rip power and not following the warnings of her uncle, she was determined not to do that again and heed his warnings.

"If you can hear me, I just want you to know that what La'gaan and I had wasn't real. It wasn't what we had. It, it didn't come close. I wish things were different. Maybe if I never used my mind rip power in the first place… It's just that the White Martians have no quarrels about it like the Green Martians. I just saw it as a means to an end. To get the information we need no matter what. But now I see why the Green Martians abhor it. You were right. We're the good guys. We're supposed to be better than that. I should have been better than that." She leaned down and lightly kissed his forehead. "And I will."

The sound of running footsteps radiating through the hallway outside made her quickly snap to attention. Before the door opened she quickly wiped his forehead clean of the residue from her lipstick and turned to see Rocket standing in the doorway.

"Girl, we gotta move. Word from the Watchtower is that Superman is attacking downtown Harbor."

"That's impossible, he and the others aren't back yet."

"That's why we're going now. Come on."

The city of Happy Harbor was anything but, as Superman laid waste to any and everything around him. Cars sailed into buildings while streets were literally torn apart. A tanker truck was hit with a dose of heat vision and detonated in a fiery explosion that destroyed a nearby yogurt shop with it. Fleeing people were flash frozen in place with subzero ice breath and a high-rise skyscraper came tumbling down from being too damaged as the rampage continued.

"All right, here's the plan," Nightwing said from his position within the bio ship. "Rocket, you and Beetle go first. Gain his attention while Wonder Girl and I can get him grounded. Miss Martian, Artemis, and Bumblebee will…"

"Wait a second," Bumblebee interrupted. "Are we sure we can follow your lead? I mean, you did let us think that a teammate died in combat and neglected to tell us we had a double agent in with The Light."

"She's right," Wonder Girl added. "How do we know if we can trust you?"

Getting up from her chair and stomping towards Wonder girl, Artemis got right in the young blonde's face. "Look, Nightwing made a call, one that we needed given our situation. If you don't want to deal with this, then don't. He's not the only one that was in on it. Me, Wally, and Kaldur each had a part, so fall inline or fly back to the Amazon, or wherever you're from. Nightwing," the green garbed archer said as she readied her bow. "I'm ready."

"Okay everyone, regardless whether you want to follow me or not, there are people down there who need help. It's our job to put this to an end as quickly as possible. So let's do it."

Diving headfirst out of the bio ship, Rocket made a beeline for the red and blue aggressor. The bomber jacket wearing girl's body became enveloped in a sapphire glow as she picked up speed in her flight. With both fists outstretched before her, she double punched Superman high in the back. He recovered quickly after tumbling through the air in time to see her come around for another attack.

Not letting her get in close this time, Superman fired off his heat vision, hitting her dead on. It would have been enough to kill her but she had managed to get a defensive force field up in time. The impact was enough to send her back hard but Blue Beetle came from behind her to fire off a blast from his arm cannon. The blast nailed Superman in the face, sending him to the streets below.

"What do you mean something ain't right?" Blue Beetle questioned his suit. "System bio what? Man, just shut up and let me do this thing."

"You better not be talking to me blue boy," Rocket yelled as she flew past him.

"Hey! Wait a second!"

Both team members engaged Superman who let out a roar as he met them head on. Both put up a fight but were no match as he easily took them down. The first was Rocket as he grabbed her by the neck and rammed her into and through a concrete wall, knocking her out. Blue Beetle felt his heat vision from being hit point blank after being caught himself. He would have hit the ground head first had Nightwing not have caught him while swinging on a grapple line. They would have been crushed by Superman who was intent on hitting them with a nosedive when Wonder Girl lassoed him and flung the man of steel to the ground.

Not letting that keep him down for long, Superman fired his heat vision again, hitting wonder girl in her bracelets as she managed to raise them to shield her face. She was forced backwards while trying to protect herself and eventually collided with a car, which Superman then blew up after igniting the gas tank. The young heroine was sent flying several meters and landed unconscious in the middle of the street.

"Bee, Artemis, M M, I need back up now! Beetle, Rocket, and Wonder Girl are down. Ugh!" A fist came crashing down where Nightwing had ducked behind a car to contact the others and created a rather impressive sized crater.

"On our way," Artemis announced over her communicator. "Bee, you're up. M'gann, you're next. Go!"

Nightwing was getting a workout dodging Superman's attacks. Barely a step ahead of him, he could feel his teeth shake every time the ground was smashed and he could swear he could feel his hair being singed from every burst of his heat vision.

Ready to unleash a burst of ice breath, Superman was stopped by several blasts from Bumblebee. Yellow energy shots impacted his head, forcing him to freeze an overhead streetlight instead of his intended target, Nightwing. With another roar, Superman swung an arm where Bumblebee was coming from and would have hit her, if she hadn't had shrunk at the last second. His attack went wide and he was awarded a large slab of concrete to the face from Miss Martian for his effort.

Ignoring another attack by Bumblebee, Superman hastily flew at the green Martian and slammed his fist into the ground. Chunks of concrete flew into the air but Superman didn't let up on his attack. Miss Martian bobbed and weaved around him as he continued to attempt to crush his target. Even interference by Bumblebee didn't help as she was simply tossed aside into Nightwing and both crashed through the window of a nearby boutique.

"Artemis, are you in position yet?" Nightwing shouted into his communicator after seeing Bumblebee was okay.

"I'm in position, just waiting for you guys to get him here," the archer responded as she watched the battle from the top of a building. She had an arrow loaded and ready to go, an arrow tipped with one of the larger shards of Kryptonite Black Canary had managed to retrieve from Connor.

"_This guy just won't give up!_" Miss Martian told the remaining team members telepathically. "_It's like he's zeroing in on me. Do you want me to mind blast him?_"

"_Negative. We don't know if that will work on him. Our best bet would be to use the Kryptonite to at least knock him down and out for the time being_." Nightwing responded on the same telepathic length Miss Martian had established when he had to come to a halt when he saw Superman grab a truck and threw it at him. The vehicle came dangerously close as it sailed over his head, distracting the team's leader before attacking him. "_He's targeting both of us. He's not even minding Bumblebee zapping him right now._"

"_Guys, a little less taking notes and a little more plan execution_," Artemis reminded him.

Mentally picking up another large chunk of the deserted street, Miss Martian hurled it at Superman. As it came closer, he flew directly at it and shattered the concrete block into tiny bits and pieces. Having no time to react, the Martian girl was caught by the throat and had her air supply cut off. It was here when she saw something that made chills ran up her spine. The blue eyes that were Superman's were a shade lighter with the white outside areas black. It was Match, the first clone of Superman Conner had told them about.

"M'gann!" Nightwing yelled. He drew both of his combat six and hit the faux Superman as hard as he could on the arm.

Glancing at the team's leader, the Superman poser powered up his heat vision and unleashed a blast that just barely missed Nightwing's head, but not the line of cars across the street. Almost as if he planned it that way, he turned back to face Miss Martian before growling and giving her a sadistic grin. She was close to blacking out. The world was being surrounded in darkness when she felt herself airborne for a moment before landing hard on the asphalt surface of the street with an intense heat coming over her.

"Artemis, forget the trap, take the shot out now." Abandoning the fight, Nightwing bolted after his Martian colleague who was surrounded by fire. Flames rose into the sky from the burning cars as she struggled to get up and try to levitate herself out of harm's way but couldn't to do so.

"Got it, taking the shot now." Adjusting her aim to compensate the greater than expected distance, Artemis let fly the Kryptonite tipped gel arrow. It never hit its Mark as Superman destroyed it with his heat vision and took to the air where Artemis was stationed.

"Artemis, get out of there!" Jumping into the ring of fire, Nightwing scooped up Miss Martian and fired a grapple line to an adjacent building. He hurriedly got her to safety as Superman arrived where the female archer was stationed.

Rising up in front of her, Superman was hit with an exploding arrow to the chest but all it did was tear his costume to reveal a backwards Superman "S" on his chest. He didn't even flinch, only inhaled deeply.

"Oh crap!" Diving out Of the Way, Artemis took cover behind a rooftop generator as a subzero gust of wind swept over the building.

The cover was not enough as it, along with her and everything else on the rooftop, was thrown over the side of the building. Acting fast, Artemis drew, loaded, and fired a grapple arrow into the building's side to stop her fatal fall to the street below. The momentum carried her into a damaged fire escape where she hit hard and felt a sharp pain in her side. A warm feeling quickly followed as blood began to pour out of a six inch gash to her abdomen.

"Artemis? Artemis, come in! Artemis, do you copy?" As Nightwing tried to contact his partner, Bumblebee grew back to her normal size. "Bee, check on the others, I'm going after Artemis."

"But what about…"

"He's gone. It wasn't Superman, but he's gone now."

"It wasn't Superman?" The yellow and black clad woman asked. Her dark skin was lightly covered in soot and ash from the burning debris around her and a bruise was forming on her jaw. "If it wasn't Superman then who was it then?"

"Long story," Nightwing told her as he mowed through his damp hair with a hand after confirming Miss Martian was okay. "I'll explain back at the base. Right now I gotta…"

"Nightwing. Nightwing, come in," the archer finally responded.

"Artemis? Where are you?"

"Oh, just hanging out. You know me."

"Are you injured?"

"Nothing a few stitches won't fix," she said after a grunt.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Nightwing looked up towards the sky. "Prep the bio ship and get down here. Bee and I are going to get the others."

"Roger that. Out."

"Oh man," Nightwing said while rubbing his eyes. "We are so overwhelmed."

To be continued


	4. Chapter 4

4.

Mount Justice – 11:41pm

"Rocket, Beetle, Wonder Girl, La'gann, Beast Boy, Superboy. All are on the WIA or MIA list. And now I'm getting reports Robin, Zatanna, Icon, Captain Marvel, and several others from the Justice League are on the injured list as well. The only upside to this is that the League has taken down several members of the Light's forces. Brain and Vandal Savage have been confirmed in custody with Klarion being defeated by Dr. Fate after having his cat or "familiar" destroyed. Now he's back in his own dimension."

Leaning back in his chair, a maskless Nightwing rubbed the bridge of his nose and breathed deeply. The computer he sat at recorded every word he said and had a display of those who were injured, missing, or active in a 3-D image before him.

"It's been four days since we ran into the clone known as Match. He was dressed as Superman but behaved more like Superboy did when he used the shields Luther gave him. Speaking of which, his condition worsened yesterday as his organs began to shut down. It happened while we were called out to stop Klarion The Witch Boy and T. R. Morrow. Beast Boy nearly had a heart attack when he saw and heard Connor's alarms go off. We stabilized him but today we found his organs were slowly coming back. Almost as if his body's restarting itself. On another note, I noticed some sort of strange black dust around his wound. I haven't tested it yet but, what if it's the kryptonite coming out of his system? It should be noted that I've obtained a piece of blue Kryptonite from the Batcave. Batman said it's capable of supercharging Superman, just in case something happened to him, so…maybe that's the next step. I discussed it with Wally and we finally agreed to give it a shot this morning. No one else knows about it besides us."

He reached over and grabbed a mug of coffee sitting nearby. Unfortunately it had already grown cold. Despite that, he drank some anyway.

"There's also the question of how Black Manta's forces infiltrated Mount Justice. They didn't come in through the Zeta Tubes or blew their way in. They entered through the garage, but even that way requires identification. The only way I can come up with is they had a hacking device or a powerful EMP bomb that was also capable of putting Sphere out of commission that allowed them entry. Still, they would've had to locate where the entrance was since it's hidden and how to bypass the outside security measures. Their suits were also highly advanced at infiltration as they were designed not to make any noise whatsoever. The only other explanation would be is if they got information from La'gaan. Speaking of which, we still have no clue as to where they've taking him and I haven't had any updates from Kaldur. I just hope he hasn't been discovered."

Setting down his now empty mug, he picked up his mask and rubbed his thumb over it.

"Mal, he came up with a theory after seeing footage of our encounter in the field. He pointed out. The first person they took out, Beast Boy, doesn't quite fit in with the others. They targeted Superboy. They came prepared for him. The bizarre Superman clone we encountered seemed to only concentrate on me and Miss Martian after we arrived. He also made sure to take out Rocket, Wonder girl, and Blue Beetle. Mal thinks they're targeting, in his words, "our heavy hitters", and made a football reference where I'm the coach, Miss M's the quarterback since we use her psychic link to relay messages, Superboy and Wonder Girl are the line, since they're essentially our tanks, and Beetle, Rocket, and Beast Boy act as our backs and receivers. If that makes any sense. But I see what he means. Take out the key elements and the team folds."

"And as for the rest of the team," Nightwing said with a sigh. "Trust is still waning. Some have come to forgive, understand, and trust me while others are still cautious about me being in command. However, when I checked to see how everyone is, I still receive the silent treatment from one or two people. Things are better but some still need time. Case in point is M'gann. She still feels betrayed most of all, not that I blame her. Every day is the same routine with her. She spends her mornings with Garfield, goes on missions or trains, and then spends the evenings in Connor's room eating dinner, sometimes with Garfield and other times alone. She spends a lot of time in there, and that's usually where I find her when there's a mission. I would like to see what she's doing and there but she keeps the door locked. I don't feel a camera would be the right way to go just yet as I need her on my side. The bond between her and Connor was strong after they got together during the first few months after the team formed, so if they got back together recently, that may have something to do with all the time she spends with him."

Tossing his mask back on the terminal, he ran his hands over his face and through his black hair with a groan. "The team, my team shattered. Were strung out and stretched too thin. We need some R&R, but can't afford to take a break. We need a break. We need… Something to go our way."

Pushing away from the computer and stretching after he stood up, he grabbed his mask and pushed the chair back in place. "On a side note, we need the six back. GL John Stuart, Superman, Wonder Woman, Hawk Woman, Martian Manhunter, and Batman. We just feel lost right now."

11:27am - next day

"I told you, I'm alright." Checking her gear, Artemis journeyed swiftly down the hall from the newly stocked armory. A quiver of arrows was strapped to her back with her mask tucked into the top of her belt. She pulled the primary bowstring on her weapon to make sure it had enough torque and was set exactly the way she wanted it.

"But babe," Wally said as he kept pace with her. "You had to get stitches. You've got a six inch gash on your side and it's bruised pretty good. You can't go back out there.

"Yes I can." She stopped before entering the living/training quarters. "Remember when you tried to tell me what to do last time? Remember how long it took for you to get out of that gel from the arrow I used on you?" She drew one of the indicated arrows out of her quiver to remind him.

"Uh, good luck, babe." After giving her a quick peck on the cheek, Wally disappeared to join the others in the living area.

"What did I ever do to end up with him?" she said, shaking her head with a grin.

Joining what was left of the team, Artemis took a seat at the front of the room. A large map displayed both a flat and round image of the world as well as in image of the Watchtower. The computer that displayed the images in the air that was surrounded mostly by empty seats with only a few being occupied with Nightwing and Mal at its controls.

"Okay," Nightwing said. "I know we're all in strung out shape here. But we need to stay on alert. With so many of us on injured reserve, we need to pull it together long enough for…"

"Who are we kidding," Bumblebee said. "We're beyond strung out. Rocket went back to the League and we're lucky to have Wonder Girl back."

"Yes, well, as it is with only five of us still operable, we need to stay on alert regardless. We need to…"

"Fight back," Wonder Girl, interrupted. "We need to fight back and…"

"And what? Artemis asked. "We don't even know where to attack. We can't go in there and…"

"I'm with Wonder Girl on this," Mal spoke up. "You five can't be happy just waiting for…"

"We are not launching an attack. We can't…" Before Nightwing could finish, the woman got into an argument with each other. Mal joined in and soon everyone was yelling at someone.

"Sounds fun and there," Garfield said as he sat beside M'gann in Connor's medical room. "Are you sure you don't want to join?"

"I'm sure," his blood sister told him. "It's the same as always. Nightwing tells us to stay frosty, we wait for a mission, respond, and someone comes back hurt. I can wait here until they call me."

"Can I ask you something?" Shifting in his chair, Garfield adjusted his leg, which was supported on a nearby chair and pillows to look M'gann in the eye. "What do you do in here?"

"What do you mean? I sit here with him to make sure he's okay."

"No, I mean what are you doing to him when you have the door locked?"

Looking down, M'gann didn't want to tell anyone what she was doing. Her uncle had warned her about it time and time again. In fact, Zatanna herself said the same thing. However, given the circumstances of the situation and the strength Conner possessed, she talked herself into speeding up the healing process of his body by attempting the force out the kryptonite particles within his body back out from where they entered.

"Can you keep a secret?"

"Yeah," Garfield said after a moment.

"I've… I've been extracting the kryptonite particles out of his body."

"But, I thought your uncle said…"

"I know what I was told. I can't simply explain this but… Conner and I mind melded a long time ago and, and recently. It's more than communicating telepathically. It's on a more personal level. I can feel when he's in pain or trouble and he can feel the same with me. We can also, well… It gets kinda personal after that."

"So, if you can take out the kryptonite, did what happened the other day…"

"I don't know what that was. I didn't try until after his body… Restarted. But I can feel his pain. I took his strength for granted and he got hurt."

"So is it working?"

"I can't tell. I can still feel him in pain but nothing else."

A moment passed as Garfield looked from his sister to his injured teammate. Since their first meeting he liked them both and had also made it is personal secret mission to get Connor to like monkeys. He was more than proud when he got him to change his mind when they were on Rann a few months back. The look on M'gann's face made it clear that he was more than just a teammate to her, which in turn gave him another secret mission to accomplish. "Can I tell you something?"

"Anything." She leaned back in her chair and wrapped an arm around Garfield's shoulders.

"I like him better than La'gaan. He's not cocky or annoying. And he doesn't smell like an aquarium." This earned him a light chuckle from his sister.

With a loud bang, the door opened. Even though they heard footsteps running down the Hall, the sound of the door bursting open like that surprised them. Standing in the doorway was Cassie, Wonder Girl, who ran in and grabbed the green skinned girl by the arm excitedly and forced her to her feet.

"M'gann, come on. You won't believe what's happened."

"What? What's going on?" She narrowly dodged bumping into her brother's cast incased leg as she was pulled to the door.

"They're back," Cassie said with wide eyes and a large smile.

"Who's back?"

"Them."

To be continued


	5. Chapter 5

5.

11:42am - Mount Justice

"In short, the inhabitants of Rimbar now know we were not acting of our own free will for those 16 hours we couldn't account for." Turning his attention to the computer behind him, Batman tapped in several keystrokes in which two images came up. "They listened to us and the Krolotean that was with us and helped to identify two prime targets of those responsible for all this."

"You mean…" Nightwing said.

"We know where to strike," Wonder Woman completed for him.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Wonder Girl jumped up and flew over to her mentor. "Let's take the fight to them for a change."

"Now that was precisely what we were thinking." Aquaman added.

"Even the Kroloteans want payback for being betrayed like they were," Superman stated. "But we talked them into letting us handle it since this is Earth and we protect it. They also have…other concerns at the moment with the one who exposed them to the world and someone or something called The Competitor"

"In one day, two separate teams will strike. We'll take out the main base while Nightwing and his team lead the second attack here."

With a few more keystrokes, Batman pulled up an image off the Atlantic coast. Two more images popped up at different times. One showed an empty ocean, the other showed a white circular structure some seventy five miles from the US coast.

"What's that?" Bumblebee asked.

"Black Manta's Atlantic base," Aquaman said. "Apparently, the Kroloteans were more than happy to turn over vital information when they could. It rises out of the ocean depths around two PM daily our time, to collect solar energy."

"Speaking of vital information," Wonder Woman said. "This is also where Kaldur is located."

"It's unfortunate we will be fighting against him. If I weren't needed elsewhere with the League, I would accompany you in his apprehension."

"Um, about that," Nightwing said. "I need to, kinda bring you guys up on what we've been doing."

5:49pm

Sitting in her usual spot beside Connor, M'gann stared off into the sunset as she held his hand. Her thumb grazed over his knuckles and gave a light squeeze as she continued to wish he would return the gesture. She had once again locked the door to have complete privacy in the room so she may continue on removing the kryptonite particles from his body. As it was, he still didn't seem to be improving but he definitely wasn't getting any worse. The veins that were once a dark green were now faded and were just visible under her skin. More of the black dust rested next to him on the sheet that was the powered kryptonite. Doing this put a strain on her mentally, forcing her to rest after an hour or so to prevent her from hurting herself or potentially passing out.

"So close. I'm so close to getting it all out. Just one more time and I'll have gotten it all out of you." She inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly to prepare herself to attempt to get the rest of the kryptonite out of him when she heard the familiar voice of her uncle behind her.

"Would you care to explain yourself, young one?"

"Uncle J'onn…" She jumped out of her seat at the acknowledgement and question. "How did… Oh yeah, you can phase through walls. Nevermind." She sat back down and rested her arms on her legs as she took a hunched position.

Walking up to where his niece sat, Martian Manhunter placed a hand on her shoulder and looked the injured Superboy over. "You're not trying to communicate with a comatose person, are you?"

"No, you warned me about that," she said with a hint of sadness in her voice.

The elder Martian eyed the sleeping patient carefully and spotted the black dust. With his telekinesis, he raised some of it into the air and brought it closer for inspection. "You're using your powers to speed up his healing process, aren't you M'gann?"

"Ye… Yes. But you see, he…"

"What have I told you about that? Even those with magic refuse to do aid in healing. The human body knows how to heal on its own. You could hurt him as much as yourself by…."

"But, but it's not like I'm hurting him. I've been very careful not to…"

Letting out a long sigh, Martian Manhunter floated a chair over to him so he could sit next to her. "M'gann, I have had these conversations with you time and time again. There are just some things you cannot do here like on Mars. You may not mean to, but you could potentially injure someone severely or worse. His Kryptonian side may be able to handle it what his human side me not be strong enough."

"I know that, but I… I have to try," she told him while squeezing Connor's hand tighter than she thought she was. "It's just that I… I…"

"I know, young one. You care deeply for him. It makes me happy that you do and that he returns your feelings. But remember, you and him are no longer with each other."

"But what if we are?" She whispered after a moment.

Martian Manhunter didn't have an answer to that. He simply sighed then stood up, placing his hand back on her shoulder. "I have taught you as best as I could and I always will. Yet in the end, they are your powers and it's your discretion. I can only try to guide you as best as I can. As your powers or yours to do with as you wish, the same goes for your heart. Just remember, I will always be there for you, M'gann."

With tears in her eyes, the Martian girl stood and hugged her uncle tight. "Thank you. Thank you for everything you've done."

The two stood in silence with the only sound being the beeping of Conner's heart monitor and his breathing. Outside, the sun continued to set and slowly put an end to the day.

10:57am - Next day

Pacing before what was left of his team, Nightwing eyed each one carefully. Within the next hour they would be moving out to face Black Mantis' forces on their home turf. He needed to decide which of the five members he would take on a mission and which ones will be staying behind. It was a decision he thought over very carefully for if he divided them up poorly, they would stand a good chance of losing this fight. On the other hand, those left behind would put the injured at risk without any protection should there be a counter attack.

"Okay, I'm gonna keep this simple," Nightwing said as he stood in front of the group with his arms crossed. "I wish I could take all of you but that would leave then mountain wide open for an attack. So the ones I need to stay here are Bumblebee and Wonder Girl."

"Oh, what?" Wonder Girl yelled. "Are you serious?"

"Cassie, I know you want to go, but I need you here with Bee and Mal to protect the others."

"But you need a, what did Mal call it? A tank. A heavy hitter. I may not be as strong as Wonder Woman but…"

"But your strength would be better utilized here. If Mal's security system fails then Bee will be by herself. You would be the last line of defense for the injured. Besides, I need a team who's good at being stealthy. Not just punchy."

"That was one mission, and it wasn't my fault. Come on, you know you need me."

"Look at it this way, Cass," Artemis said. "We're going in there on a search and rescue before bringing the place down. You've got a mountain to cut loose in. If they attack, they'll bring an army. You're a one-woman army with a target rich environment and you don't have to worry about being spotted by the enemy like we do."

"And if push comes to shove, you could bring the mountain down on them," M'gann added with a smile.

"Fine," Wonder Girl pouted as she sat back with her arms crossed. "But they have better bring an army."

Grinning, Nightwing turned back to the others. "All right, for the time being. I want everyone to make any last preparations they need. Prepare yourselves; load up on weapons, anything you need to do."

"So in other words, go overkill," said Artemis.

"No such thing as overkill," M'gann told her. "Connor told me that once."

"Always liked the boy, smart lad," Artemis said with her hands on her hips. "So, I guess us three…"

"Four," came a familiar voice.

Turning to face where the voice came from, the five remaining team members and Mal saw a yellow and red clad figure make his way towards them. Wally West was once again dressed in his kid flash Garb. "I may have grown since then but I can still go out in public in this."

"Too bad the suit didn't grow with you," Artemis retorted, pointing out that his costume looked a little too tight for him.

"Watch it young lady, or I won't grace you with my presence on the mission. And for future reference, just call me Wally. I outgrew the kid part a while back."

"Glad to have you onboard, Wal-man," Nightwing said. "And will you look at this? We've nearly got the old team back together."

"And we will," Wally told him. "Just as soon as we get Aqualad and Superboy wakes up."

11:49am – Mount Justice Medical Wing

"Oh man, I wish I could go. Why can't you or Zatanna heal my leg completely?" Garfield asked as he gently swung back and forth on his crutches from the doorway of Connor's medical room.

"Because the human body is harder to repair through magic or telekinesis. It's just better to let it heal by itself," M'gann told him.

They were once again in Connor's medical room. His monitors showed no change in his condition; however, the wound in his chest was no longer surrounded by dark green veins and if it wasn't from an accident on Wally's part, they would've still have the heart monitor working. As it turns out, grape soda and electronics don't mix.

"So what'cha got there, sis?"

"Nightwing said we nearly have the old team together. It only felt right Conner had his gear to." Reaching into a bag while morphing into her stealth mission gear from her civilian attire, M'gann pulled out Corners boots, socks, and pants. The last item she pulled out was his signature black, longsleeve shirt with the red Superman "S" symbol on front. As if they were made from a delicate material, she laid his clothing gently on the table beside him. She then gave the sleeping hero a light kiss on the lips afterwards.

"Listen, if anyone decides to attack the mountain, Mal, Bee, and Cassie will be here. But if anyone gets past them, I want you to get to the emergency exit as soon as you can and hide in the forest nearby."

"But what about the others?"

With a sigh, M'gann turned to her blood brother and draped an arm across his shoulders. "We just have to hope the security protocols for their rooms hold out."

12:13pm – Mount Justice Hanger

Miss Martian's bio ship was prepped and ready to go. The hanger bay door was open, giving him a view of the clear sky outside. The four who were going on the mission went over their gear one last time as the three staying behind monitored them from the mission area within the mountain. Communications checked out. Both teams made sure the incoming and outgoing signal between them was strong.

For perhaps the third time since taking her seat, Artemis rechecked her bows. Two crossbows were holstered, one on each leg, and contained five gel or electro-shock bolts each. Several clips for them were strapped to the outside of her calves for backup. Her main quiver held its maximum capacity and main bow was set at its highest possible level.

"A little overkill, don't you think?" Wally said as he shotgunned an energy drink.

"No such thing," Nightwing said while taking his place in the bio ship. He too was loaded up with everything he could carry and then some. "Right, M'gann?"

"Right." Raising the ship into the air and checking the screen in front of her position at the cockpit, she made sure all skies were clear before alerting the others of their departure. Putting the ship in camouflage mode, she piloted it out of the hanger and toward their destination.

1:58pm - Atlantic Ocean

Hovering in the air less than five miles from the oceanic base of Black Manta, the team waited patiently for it to rise above the water to collect its solar energy for the day. The Intel Batman supply them with, a gift of sorts from the betrayed Kroloteans, they had everything they needed to raid the base successfully. For the time being; however, it was just a waiting game. A waiting game that was proving to be complete torture for a certain speedster who pasted relentlessly back and forth within the ship, while the team leader, Nightwing, stood to the side, twirling his combat batons to keep him busy.

"New gear?" M'gann asked as she watched him.

"Yeah," he replied. He pressed a button on the handles of his weapons and they hummed to life. "Taser sticks. Baddies will get a nasty shock."

"Speaking of nasty shocks," Artemis said. "Moby Dick has reached the surface."

Down below them, a large amount of water dispersed as something massive began to rise to the surface. Several large structures punched through the liquid barrier and continued to rise into the sky. Water poured off like waterfalls from various structures, some cylindrical and tower like, some completely circular like the roof of a mushroom. The top of each structure was a bluish gray color, making it blend in perfectly with the water while the rest was colored white or black. The entire base was a large circular compound that was at least twice the size of Mount Justice. As the last of the water poured back into the ocean from it, the tops of the blue/gray covered structures rotated open to reveal large solar panels underneath.

"Okay, if we weren't going to blow the place up and if it didn't belong to the bad guys, I would so totally be jealous and geeking out right now. Almost as much as Cassie does with Wonder Woman," Wally said. "Maybe even more."

"Okay guys," Nightwing said. "You know what to do. Let's finish this."

To be continued


	6. Chapter 6

6.

2:11pm – Black Manta's base

"Increase the power to seventy percent and try again." A black clad man wearing a helmet stood behind a group of his soldiers, issuing orders to several others who sat behind computer terminals as they tortured a dark skinned young man in front of them.

Electrical generators hummed with the power they contained and only grew louder as the energy supplied to them was increased. A loud pain filled scream echoed through the darkened room but no one did anything to help them as they all continued to watch the torture before them. Struggle as he did, the leather straps holding his arms and ankles to the steel platform he was on refused to let him move an inch with the only solace he could find was a single bright light above him. If the light were from a bulb or his impending demise, he did not know. After a few moments, but what felt like hours to the strapped down individual, the black clad man held his hand up to signal the others to cut the power.

"Fa… Father… I…" Struggling to catch his breath after being tortured for the past hour, Kaldur slumped down with only the straps on his arms holding him up.

"For future reference Kaldur'ahm, you will refer to me as Black Manta. Not as your father." The man known as Black Manta did not move an inch. He only continued to look upon his tortured son through his black and gray saucer like helmet. The red eyes on his head piece scanned the young Atlantean. Despite some minor burns to his unclothed torso, he was otherwise uninjured. Meaning he could still take more punishment.

"Father… Please…"

Reaching up to his helmet, Black Manta disengaged the small clamps which secured it to his body armor and slowly pulled it off. His features closely matched that of Kaldur but were more stone like. "Once again, Kaldur, I am not your father. My son would not betray me like you did. My son would not be spying on me and my operations like you did. My son would be by my side, working to bring down Atlantis and rule the oceans of the Earth."

"I would never go against my King. You betrayed him by bringing destruction and devastation to…"

"Order? Is that we were going to say? Order, control, they can only last so long. It's the weak that wish for control, the weak who wish for order because they would not survive otherwise. This is what we will bring The Light to. They will see…"

"The Light is a lie! Those who are The Light only want chaos and suffering. They only care about whatever they can gain from others without care as to who gets hurt along the way. You had to have known that at one time, before you became this Black Manta. You would have to have known this when you were with my mother."

With a Stern look, Black Manta replaced his helmet and went to the door. "Raise it eighty. Atlantean hide is known to be thick. He'll break in time. The other one broke not even two minutes into interrogations. He was all talk but also a coward. This one… Will be much harder to break."

Within the shadows of the oceanic base's structures, Nightwing made his way to the control hub of the large compound. Guards marched in teams of three as they patrolled the planks and passageways in regular intervals. According to the data on his 3-D wrist computer, the structure would only be above water for forty-five minutes to completely recharge its power cells then submerge again till tomorrow. They only had twenty eight minutes left to get the job done. Twenty-eight minutes to find Kaldur and La'gaan, as well as sabotage the generators to keep it from submerging and capture Black Manta.

"Hey, Nightwing," Wally's voice echoed in his head from Miss Martian's telekinetic link. "Bombs are in place at the generators. Just give me the word on when to push the button."

"I will, just as soon as I find Kaldur and La'gaan," Nightwing told him.

"Scratch that last one, just found fish boy in the holding cells sleeping," Artemis relayed back to them. "I can only see one guard for him. You want me to bust him out or…"

"Negative, we need to find Kaldur and get him out. He hasn't radioed me in weeks. I need to know what's happened to him. I'm heading over to the center structure right now. I've been getting weird power fluctuations from there."

"Copy that, standing down."

"You hear that Miss M? Will be reunited with your boyfriend soon," Wally teased. "Miss M? M'gann?"

"I heard you, Wally, but I've got other things on my mind right now," Miss Martian told him.

"What did you find?" Asked Nightwing as he ascended the main structure of the base and entered through an opening below the exposed solar panel.

Standing in the middle of a computer room with several Manta Troopers sprawled unconscious on the floor, Miss Martian stared at a terminal reading Nightwing everything she saw on the screen. "I found a headcount of the soldiers here and there's only about half of their force remaining here after dispatching a while ago. Several of their drop ships or even gone."

"Any idea where they went?"

"Hold on, I'm checking…" She typed as fast as she could, even growing an extra arm out of her left elbow to help out until she found her answer and gasped. "Nightwing, it's the cave. Their attacking the cave. They're attacking home."

"Great, that makes everything better. We can't radio Mal, Bee, and Wonder Girl to safeguard the others without exposing ourselves so We just need to trust they'll be ready. On the other hand, I just found Kaldur."

Looking through a grated Hatch of an air duct, Nightwing had a clear view of the Atlantean from his position. There were three troops and two scientists in the room along with a slanted metal table and numerous computer terminals within. Kaldur hung on the table, breathing and sweating hard while cussing those before him in Atlantean dialect when an electrical pulse shot through his body, making him grow stiff and scream from the pain.

"Wally, detonate the charges for the electrical generators only. Do not detonate the ones that hold the base up. Do it now. They're killing Kaldur. Artemis, get La'gaan. Miss M, you're the backup. Go!" Bursting through the grate, Nightwing flung three electrical disks at the troops to knock them out before using his tazer batons on the two scientists. As the last one fell, and powerful explosion rocked the structure as Wally's bombs went off.

2:17pm – Mount Justice

"Argh! I'm so bored!" Sitting upside down on the still charred couch, Wonder Girl stared at the small TV that was brought in. "Ugh, changed into my mission gear for nothing."

"I don't think sneakers, red pants, and a black Wonder Woman tank top classifies as Mission gear," Mal commented from the main computer hub across from the living area. Large screens showcasing the cave's security and power ratings surrounded him, all at optimum power levels.

"Please, I'm not one for tights and capes like your girlfriend is. Besides, it works for Superboy."

"That's cause no one wants to get on his bad side. You know how many shirts he goes through a month? Let alone a week?"

"Yeah, but it so works for him."

"What works for who?" Bumblebee asked as she entered from the garage. Wolf and Sphere were close behind her.

"We were just talking about how out of all the costume wearing individuals around here, there's only two who would rather pull their outfits from the mall shelves," Mal told her.

"Whatever." Letting her legs fall to the seat of the couch, Wonder Girl stretched out on all fours before leaving her place and the TV. "I'm bored."

"We know," Mal said sarcastically as she walked past him and Bumblebee.

I'm going to go for a walk around the mountain. You know how to reach me."

"Cassie," Bumblebee called after her as she headed to be repaired garage entrance. "We shouldn't separate. If something happens…"

"What could happen? We were left behind because the others don't trust us. They're out there having fun on a mission while we're stuck here babysitting the invalids."

Mal and Bumblebee gave each other an annoyed look as Cassie left through the garage door.

Several minutes later, the blonde superheroine arrived at the nearby beach. The Sun was high in the clear blue midday sky with the sounds of circling seagulls filling the air. Ocean waves crashed onto the shore and the wind blew steadily through both the trees and Wonder Girl's hair. She was already getting tired of the salty sea air but had to let her feelings known to the world one last time before heading back to the mountain. "Grraaagh! I'm so freaking bored! By Harrah, send me something to do!"

With nothing at all to interest her or stem the tide of boredom, she looked out over the ocean one last time and ached to be in the middle of the action like the rest of the team. She could only imagine the battle she must be missing by being left behind where nothing was happening. Nothing at all. Not even the seagulls were in the air anymore, not that she was paying attention. Instead she was thinking of how she could show her mentor, Wonder Woman, what she was capable of if she was never given an opportunity to do so.

As she contemplated about going back to the cave, a soft whistle caught her attention. It started out as barely audible but quickly grew louder. Had she not have glanced up in the air at that moment, she would not have seen a fast approaching object heading towards her and defiantly would not have moved out of the way in time as a mortar shell came crashing down beside her.

The resulting explosion knocked Wonder Girl off balance, forcing her face first into the sand. With a grunt, she forced herself to her knees and saw a large group of Manta soldiers emerge from the ocean with the red eyes other helmets burning bright as if emerging from a nightmare. As they drew closer with water pouring off them and weapons raised, another Manta soldier planted his boot in front of the kneeling young woman and pointed his weapon at her head. Before he knew what happened, he was flying backwards through the air and into two of the first soldiers to step on the beach.

"Bee, Mal, they're here!" Wonder Girl shouted into her communicator. "Were under attack by Manta soldiers!"

"Copy that, Cass," Bumblebee told her from within the cave. "What's your position?"

"Two, two hundred-fifty yards from the garage, gah!" Another grenade landed close beside her but she managed to fly to a safe enough distance before it detonated. "I'm on my way back. Just have the door open when I get there!"

"Just hurry up so we can seal off the cave!"

Dodging a tremendous amount of firepower behind her, Wonder Girl flew as close to the ground as possible. Sand and Driftwood kicked up into the air as grenades erupted around her.

"Me and my big mouth. I wanted action but there's too many of them. What I need is a chance to… the forest!"

Changing course, Wonder Girl flew into the thick cover of the trees with several soldiers following her. From further behind her, she could hear the commander order the rest of the Manta troops to head for the cave's garage entrance while several others were allowed to follow her and take her out."

"I need two groups to search the area," one of the soldiers following Wonder Girl ordered as they reached a clear point in the wooded area. "I want that girl found now!"

"Find this!" Wonder Girl yelled.

Turning to face the sound of her voice, the soldiers were met with a large tree as Wonder Girl treated them all like baseballs and set the majority flying out of the forested area. Those that didn't make it out collided with the other trees blocking their line drive to the beach. Only three were left behind but they were quickly dealt with as the superpowered Amazon slammed the tree she carried on the ground to create a shockwave that took the rest out.

"Be careful with what you say. You may not like what you get." Levitating into the air, Wonder Girl shot towards the destination of Mount Justice to help the others defend it from the attack at hand.

2:36pm – Manta's Atlantic Base.

"Nope, try again. And again. Come on. I've been retired for a few years. You… Couldn't… Hit… Me… On… Your… Best… Day." Wally couldn't resist mocking several Manta soldiers as he zipped around their firepower while tossing out his taunts. He then rushed them head on as they reloaded and knocked them off the curved platform they occupied into the ocean below.

Behind him, Miss Martian sent several of her own Manta soldiers into the water as she mentally broke apart a scaffold and used it as a scoop to push them off. Dodging the gunfire of another, she telekinetically ripped a small satellite dish off a nearby communications relay and flung it like a Frisbee, knocking him out with it as it crashed into his skull.

Several buildings away, Artemis was taking down every soldier she came across. Gas arrows, electrical, nets, gel, one by one, sometimes in groups, soldiers came to a halt completely unable to continue as they were all incapacitated.

"La'gaan, hurry up! We need to reach the others now!" She yelled at her freed teammate."

Dispatching of several soldiers, an overly muscled La'gaan knocked down an overhead support to block any others from exiting the prison section of the aquatic base before shrinking back to his normal size. "Done, let's get out of here!"

With the soldiers focused on the four outside, Nightwing and Kaldur had an easy time exiting the central building where the latter was being tortured. His strength was slowly returning to him but he still needed to be carried out in the meantime. With Miss Martian unable to reach them from having to deal with the large group of soldiers attacking her and the others, Nightwing had to make do as best as he could.

"Come on Kaldur, we got a get to the pickup point. The others can only hold them off for so long."

"I feel my strength returning but… I'm still slightly dizzy." In an attempt to stop the spinning around him, Kaldur grabbed his head with his free hand and tried to walk a little to relieve his friend of the excess weight. "Where, where is the bio ship?"

"It's hovering not even 5 miles from here. We're meeting the others at the hanger on the Northwest side of the…"

"Northwest side?" Kaldur said as he stopped and stared at his rescuer. "The Northwest side has the main hanger for their drop ships."

"Yeah, a few of them aren't here and we sabotaged the others they had before deploying."

"That's not what has me worried. The number of soldiers stationed here and there vehicles do not hold a candle to…"

High above them and the central tower, an unmasked Black Manta monitored the battle outside over several large monitors. Two Elite Manta Guards armed with twice the body armor and firepower of the other soldiers stood by him with weapons ready. Their red and black uniforms may have been bulky but allowed them a superb freedom of movement.

"Give the evacuation orders. The base is finished. We will go to my private sub below the base. But as a parting gift, unleash our weapon. We'll make sure none of them survive to see another day."

Underneath the battle, at least a mile under, a large dark chamber began to come to life. Green light surrounded a central cylinder pod and faded out as bright overhead lights activated to brighten the silver metal encased chamber. Its curved walls, preventing anyone to climb in or out of it with the only entrance being a hatch high above in the ceiling.

The fading green lights rested in wide, lead shielded cases around the pod. But what appeared to be lights were actually crystals of kryptonite that were now being covered to prevent them from having any negative affect on the occupier of the central pod.

With a hiss of releasing gas and pressure, the cylindrical chamber opened. The front door slid out and rose above it to be stored behind it. As the gas cleared, a man wearing a white suit with a large red diamond shaped shield containing the letter "S" stepped out. His bizarre black and blue eyes snapped open and burned with pure hatred.

"Project Match," Black Manta's voice came over a speaker system. "Kill all intruders."

With an animal like yell, the bizarre version of Superboy took to the air to leave the chamber.

To be continued


	7. Chapter 7

7.

2:38 pm Mount Justice

The suspended 3-D images in front of the main computer Mal was at showed various security readings turn from an optimal blue color to red. Every one of them was being taken out quickly and it was only a matter of time before the Manta soldiers would be at the cave's entrance. The sound of weapons fire was getting closer every minute until finally the last of Mal's security protocols went red, leaving them completely defenseless. That was when the gunfire stopped.

"Mal, what is that wall made of?" Bumblebee asked.

"Same stuff as watchtower. They won't be able to get in unless they have-"

A loud crack echoed through the cave as a bright light burst through the door. Smoke followed the flame as it slowly made its way around the door. Molten metal fell to the ground in hot, yellow blobs and were continuing to fall as the white light burned through the repaired wall around the entrance.

"I thought nothing could get through that," Wonder girl said.

"They have a sonic pulse electromagnetic fusion cutter. It's not going to last long." Typing the last of his instructions into the computer, Mal activated the last line of defense.

"Star Wars much?" Wonder girl commented. "Looks like Darth Vader's coming through any second."

"Mal, head to med lab!" Bumblebee ordered.

"But…"

"Now! You don't have any powers so get out of here!"

"Gone." Grabbing his computer pad, Mal activated their last defensive measure and ran to join the injured further in the mountain "No one step in the training area. You'll get a nasty shock."

With Mal disappearing from the main part of the cave, Bumblebee turned to Wonder Girl with Sphere and Wolf coming to join them. "This is our last stand. We make it here and we don't falter. We're all that's stands between them and our injured."

"Oh yeah, some last stand," Wonder Girl said. "Two rookie Metas, a superball, and a mutant dog." To this remark, both Sphere and Wolf made it known they didn't like her description of them.

"A moment ago you were complaining you were bored and now you don't like your odds?"

"Oh, I have no problem with the odds. It's just there may not be enough to go around."

"Listen, Robin, Beetle, Beastboy, Mal, and Superboy need our help. If we fall, so do they. So when they come in here, everyone, give them all you've got!"

The bright smoking light neared completion as sparks continued to fly off until the last of the door was cut. Smoke still crawled out from the burnt crevice and it wasn't long before an explosion blew the sliced section open to allow dozens of Manta soldiers to flood in with guns blazing. The four defenders scattered before charging the intruders to make them pay for ever attacking their base and home.

2:39pm Black Manta's Base

"Kaldur, we got trouble." Coming to a stop in a shadow over the building, Nightwing held his friend back who was doing slightly better after having some time to recover. "It's Black Manta and two heavily armed guards."

"Listen," Kaldur told him. "You have to get the others out of here. The other Superman clone, Match, he'll most likely be released."

"I'm not leaving you behind. The entire original team is here to get you and La'gaan out and to bring down the base. Manta comes last, but only if we can spare the time."

"I will not let my father get away. He is part of the light." He put a hand on Nightwing's shoulder. "He tortured La'gaan and myself to get information about the base and our friends. From what I could hear in the detention block, La'gaan gave them everything they wanted. They were going to launch another attack to take out any who are left. I think my father just wanted to torture me simply because he could only see me as a traitor and not anything else. I must do this alone, my friend."

"All right. But take an extra com link. Radio for backup if you need it. I'll get the others to the bio ship and come find you. And I think you might need these."

"Thank you." Shaking hands before parting, Nightwing gave the former team leader the com link and his backup water – bearer weapons.

"Nightwing to team, we are getting out of here. Repeat, we are-" before he could issue any orders through his communicator, a loud explosion occurred at the section of the base they were to meet up at. It was followed by a loud rage filled yell.

Rushing several more soldiers and sending them into a nearby wall, Wally was ready for more when the ground violently shook under him then exploded in the middle of the hanger. He didn't realize the detonator he carried for the bombs fell on the floor and activated from the impact. The few soldiers near the eruptions were violently thrown into several support pillars while others were thrown over the circular edge of the hanger. Hand rails between each pillar were bent in half as the unfortunate soldiers who hit them were knocked unconscious before falling into the ocean far below. The ground once again shook from the impact of a white dressed individual landing hard enough to dent the thick metal surface.

"Whoa, speed bump!" Changing his course, Wally cut to be left to avoid running into the newly arrived individual and ran up to Artemis who finished knocking out two more attacking Manta soldiers. "Um, Artemis, please tell me that's not who I think it is."

Standing up from where he knelt, the first generation clone known as Match assumed his full height. He could easily pass as Conner if not for the black and blue eyes as well as the white solar suit he wore. His hands clenched into fists, popping from the strain exuded onto the joints as he gave a death glare at both the speedster and archer.

"Move!" Hurling a large girder at Match, Miss Martian and joined her teammates who went to flank the new individual. The incoming girder crashed where their new foe stood but failed to hit its target as the bizarre clone leapt into the air, taking flight, and began to attack the three heroes with a yell.

The first to attack was Artemis as she launched in exploding arrow at the incoming clone. Firing his heat vision, the exploding ballistic detonated several feet from his face. With another roar, Match punched through the metal flooring as he landed but no one was there. Wally made a dash to knock him off his feet but was clotheslined for his effort and tumbled across the floor, looking more like a stone skipping over water than anything. Three more arrows were fired at the clone and surrounded him in a thick black smoke. He remedied that with his super breath then rushed the female archer. Before he could land an attack, Artemis flew into the air from an assist from Miss Martian and hit the clone with a gel arrow. As the gel surrounded the clone, the Martian girl wrapped him up with part of the broken steel hand rail that was hanging off the edge of the hanger.

"We need to get out of here," Artemis said as her comrade set her back down on the ground.

"Toss him in the ocean," Wally said while checking his head for blood.

"I can't, he can fly, I'll have to-" Before Miss Martian could finish, Match ripped through both the gel and metal wrapping like wet tissue.

Faster than any of them could register Match dashed up to them and backhanded Artemis away. He grabbed Wally by the neckline of his costume and flung him over the edge of the platform, nearly tossing him into the ocean below the hanger. Reaching out, he then grabbed Miss Martian by the throat and squeeze hard. Denied of oxygen, she couldn't concentrate to defend herself as she struggled to get free and he powered up his heat vision.

"Drop her!" Descending from above, Nightwing slammed his taser batons onto the clone's shoulders. The resulting heat blast shot high, punching through the overhead metal scaffolding and away from its intended target.

Throwing the Martian aside, the bizarre clone turned his attention to Nightwing. "Miss Martian, mind blast him!" He back flipped out of the way as a fist sailed through the air where his head once was.

With fresh air in her lungs, Miss Martian's eyes turned a bright shade of glowing green as she mentally attacked his mind. It wasn't like the previous times she had mind blasted someone. This was completely different, yet vaguely familiar. Instead of knocking him out and putting an end to the fight and having the clone put in a coma, she was violently attacked herself. The last thing she saw before being flung backwards was an image of the evil telepath Psimon who had placed a booby trap within Match's mind. With a loud pain filled scream, Miss Martian grabbed the sides of her head and was thrown backwards.

Mount Justice

Complete chaos reigned inside the cave as dozens upon dozens of Manta soldiers invaded its interior. Bumblebee did her best to confuse those around her, managing to have a number of soldiers turn their rifles on each other and fall to friendly fire as she zipped between them. Others were blinded from being zapped in the eyes and taken down after she quickly grew to her normal size to dispatch them with a knockout blow before moving on to the others.

Across the cave, Wonder Girl was tossing soldiers around like rag dolls. Cries of pain echoed throughout the cave as the troopers crashed into walls, ceilings, and the training area floor that provided enough of a shock to knock them out and keep them down. Those that used their weapons on her found their shots being reflected back at them as their rounds ricocheted off her bracelets.

"Oh no, you're not getting away from me!" Grabbing her lasso, Wonder Girl roped several soldiers heading into the med bay area and pulled them back to her feet. They too were tossed to the electrically charged flooring of the training area.

Wolf made his presence known by pouncing on several incoming troopers and disarming them of their weapons. Sphere in turn would aid him by running over the dropped weapons and crashing into the other soldiers as well before transforming into her pill bug mode to dispatch of even more soldiers. Both of Superboy's pets made a formidable team and soon moved on to challenge new intruders.

"How you doing over there, Bee?" Wonder Girl asked while flying through a group of soldiers.

"How do you think?" Turning back to her normal size, Bumblebee landed a kick to a soldier's head and moved on to another." Hey W. G, several more are going into med bay!"

"I… Can't… Get to them!" Surrounded on all sides, Wonder Girl was trying to block every punch or rifle shot that came her way.

"Cassie!"

"I got it!" Leaping up into the air, Wonder Girl put a great deal of strength behind a punch she directed at the floor. It created a small quake strong enough to knock the group around her down.

Flying in a wide arc, the blonde powerhouse collided with two soldiers and threw them into a nearby wall. Breaking in the air, she went back to take the others out when a white energy beam erupted from the hallway of the med lab and blasted several other men back out into the combat zone.

"Shut it, I know what I'm doing. Stop backseat fighting." Jamie ordered his scarab, the source of his Blue Beetle tech.

"What are you doing out here?" Wonder Girl asked when she landed in front of him. "Get back to your room."

"I'm fine. Besides, it looks like you need help out here." His eyes went wide as he shoved the blonde girl aside and blasted another soldier sneaking up behind her. "Got your back."

Another soldier Jamie didn't see raised his rifle to shoot him from his left when Wonder Girl lassoed the aggressor and flung him forward to deliver a punch to his face. "Got his nose. Are you sure you can fight?" She asked, looking back at her comrade, who was donning his bio suit.

"I feel as good as new," he said with his arm cannon charging up.

With the battle continuing just outside of the med bay, Conner continued to lie unconscious in his room. His breathing was as steady as ever and the same was for his pulse monitor. However, his closed eyes told a different story as they shot back and forth under his eyelids. Slowly, his pulse began to rise as the corner of his upper lip curled into a sneer and his brow furrowed. His fists tightened as well as the muscles throughout his body. A low growl left his mouth as the machines keeping track of his pulse began glowing red and beeping wildly. With a grunt, his crystal blue eyes burst open at the sound of what sounded like a pain filled scream, a scream that he had heard once before, and never wanted to hear it again. He could feel M'gann's pain and it sent him over the edge. With an angered yell, he exploded from his bed and out of the window, leaving behind a destroyed room. The clothing beside him was missing as well.

As his bed toppled over, a small blue object, which looked like a gem stone, fell onto the floor from its spot under his pillow. The black dust that was once Kryptonite swirled around it from the impact as it shimmered in the light.

To be continued


	8. Chapter 8

8.

3:05 pm – Black Manta's base

Far beneath the battle between Match and the team, in a long metallic blue corridor, Kaldur raced after his father in an attempt to apprehend him before he reached his escape sub. The few Manta soldiers there in his way were swiftly dealt with as nothing could stop the son from confronting the father. Even though every muscle in his body still ached from his earlier interrogation and torture, Kaldur forced his body to pick up speed until finally reaching the large steel door at the end.

Not letting that stop him, Kaldur fired both of his water weapons like whips to either side of the closed door and sent an electrical shock from his body to short out the mechanical lock. Once open he dove through it at the sight of yet another door slamming shut from overhead. With a loud thud it locked shut as the former team leader landed in a roll out then stood, finding himself in the control room of Black Manta's private escape sub.

"You just don't give up do you, boy?" Turning around in his seat, Black Manta stood at his full height and planted a trident on the ground next to him. The three blades turned red as they powered up and cackled with electrical energy.

"It's something we have in common, father." Unsheathing the water from his weapons, Kaldur struck a defensive position with his liquefied weapons solidifying into swords.

"I am not your father. My son would be standing beside me and not against me. Face it, Kaldur'ahm, you could never defeat me in the past. What makes you think you will do any better today."

At his words the two heavily armed soldiers from earlier emerged behind the dark skinned Atlantean. They too carried electrical Tridents, only these were tipped at both ends. After seeing were each soldier was, Kaldur turned back to face his father.

"The outcome will be different, father, because today is a new day."

3:16pm Oceanic base's hanger

The battle wasn't going their way. Tried as they could, the team could barely mount an offensive of any sort. Wally did his best at playing distraction while Artemis and Nightwing flanked Match on both sides. Miss Martian struggled to get to her feet with La'gaan helping her as best as he could. Her head pounded mercilessly, causing her hearing to soften. The trap set by Psimon was extremely powerful. So much so, she didn't dare attempt to attack his mind again. It wasn't until a few moments had passed when she could hear clearly.

"C…Conner," she managed to whisper.

"No, angelfish, it's me," La'gann told her despite being annoyed at what she said.

She could hear the battle waging around them and it wasn't pretty. The team was fighting for their lives against Superman's first generation clone. Artemis was down to her crossbows, Wally was running on empty, and Nightwing was growing tired from dodging the bizarre one's attacks. The sight, smell, and sound of burning metal, breaking concrete, and electrical wires littered the battleground.

As he came around the left side of Match, Wally swung a steel pipe at his head resulting in a loud metallic clank. The clone brushed it off like a mosquito, grabbing the speedster by the arm and hurled him into Artemis across the hanger. Nightwing went down after he crushed his razor batons after catching them, then kicked the team's leader into the side of a left over drop ship. His black and blue eyes then settled on both the Atlantean and Martian.

"Stay here angelfish," La'gaan told her. "I'll stop him."

"La'gaan, don't, don't call me that. I can take care of myself." Trying to stand, Miss Martian felt her body still weak and the room tilting slightly. Even though to everyone else and was perfectly still.

Ignoring her words, the Atlantean sized up the clone as he left the Martian and drew near his foe. "You may not be the real one, but you're good enough for me. I'm gonna do to you what I should have done to Superboy when I had the chance for the way he's always looking at what's mine and how she looks at him!"

Ballooning himself to increase his size and strength, La'gaan towered over Match. He was at least three times the size of the clone and overloaded with muscles, yet his legs remained same size. He looked like a deformed puffer fish with tiny legs. The clone smirked evilly at the fishlike creature as he drew near and refused to move. He then held his chin outward, daring La'gaan to strike him and received a hard punch to the jaw with every ounce of strength the humanoid fish could muster.

Completely unfazed, Match turned back to face his attacker and balled up his fist at his side, popping his knuckles as he did so. Looking back up at the overinflated man fish, Match wound up and delivered an uppercut hard enough to send the Atlantean high into the air. The bizarre clone didn't stop there as he leapt up after him and landed another punch, sending him into a support beam across the hanger before flying over to him and grabbed him by the neck. Another uppercut sent La'gaan into the metallic ceiling before Match grabbed hold of his feet and flung him to the floor where he landed in a small crater created by the impact. To add more punishment, the clone landed hard on the gilled one as a sort of exclamation point to him and the team.

With a grunt, Miss Martian mentally lifted one of the smaller leftover drop ships and hurled it at the clone. He easily sliced it in half with his heat vision with both parts landing on either side of him. Nightwing and Artemis launched several bolts and Birdarangs but were forced to dodge their own weapons as a dose of super breath sent them back the way they came. Seeing his chance, Wally dashed over to Match and put everything he had into a flying kick but was caught by the throat. Struggle as he could, he couldn't break free from the grip the superpowered clone exuded.

"Oh man, we could really use Wonder Girl or Superboy… Right about now," Wally gasped.

As Match stared into the speedster's eyes, his own slowly grew red as his heat vision charged up. Thinking he was done for, Wally shut his eyes tightly and waited for oblivion to hit him. A second passed. Then another and another when he dared opened his eyes. Match was playing with him. He never meant to douse Wally with a daily dose of heat, instead he turned his head to target be fallen La'gaan with a sadistic smile spreading on his face. As he prepared to unleash the power of the sun on his target, thunderous booms shook the aquatic base. The roof appeared to explode inward, showering concrete and metal onto the hanger floor with what caused it creating a large crater upon landing in a crouched position.

The shock wave caused Match to flinch and stumble away from his fallen victim as well as drop Wally who grabbed his comrade and fled to where Nightwing and Artemis were getting back to their feet. Miss Martian used her cape to shield herself from the dirt and small debris that was kicked up. When it was over, she and the others looked at the cause of the shockwave and saw a crouching black haired young man wearing a long-sleeved black shirt with a red "S" shield on his chest.

"Con…Conner?" The emerald girl said in disbelief.

"Huh, should have said something earlier before we got our butts handed to us by Bizarro here," Wally said.

Looking upon the younger clone, Match smiled when he saw the red "S" on his chest. Superboy slowly got his feet, flexing his arms, hands, and neck to crack his joints for the impending fight. For a moment, time stood still as they sized each other up with the rest of the team readying themselves to attack.

"_No_," Superboy thought using Miss Martian's telepathic link up. "_He's mine_."

"_But, Conner_…" Miss Martian thought.

"_M'gann, leave. All of you leave. I won't hold back_."

"All this time he's been holding back?" Wally said. "Then what was-"

"Wally, can it," Nightwing ordered. "Everyone to the-"

With simultaneous roars, Superboy and Match charged at each other. The distance between them was covered in seconds and soon a powerful shockwave followed from their fists connecting with each other's faces. It was as if thunder clapped the moment they made about contact, forcing everyone to pop their ears. Glass exploded from the windshields of the drop ships with the air around them rippling as water does when hit by a stone.

"Miss M, call the bio ship. Wally, Artemis, help La'gaan-"

"I'm fine," the humanoid fish angrily said as he looked at Miss Martian who in turn was staring at Superboy.

"Are you-" Nightwing try to say.

"I said I'm-"

A bullet struck the ground before La'gaan, immediately cutting him off. "

"Get them out of the hanger!" The soldier who shot at the Atlantean ordered. "Leave no survivors then head to the escape subs."

"Seriously, you think that'll happen?" Artemis asked as she reloaded her crossbows.

Back in the hanger, Superboy and Match engaged in a titanic battle of godlike powers. Punches were thrown that could reduce concrete into dust but had little effect due to both being near invulnerable. Match would connect with a fist to Superboy's face were he in turn would deliver a backhand to Match's side torso to knock him off balance. Superboy followed it up with a spinning elbow to the back of his "older brothers" neck.

Using the momentum of the attack, Match spun around and grabbed Superboy from behind and slammed him into the ground headfirst. He then proceeded to deliver a multitude of kicks to the downed hero who did his best to block them all. A few boots connected with his face and chest but he ignored the pain as blood fell from his nose and above his eye. Had he not have been in the middle of this slugfest, he may have been surprised that he could indeed bleed.

Managing to grab hold of the older clone's foot, Superboy twisted it around to bring his attacker down. Getting up quickly, he mounted Match with a boot on his chest and began to hammer away at his face. After several hits, déjà vu hit Superboy as Match fired his heat vision in his eyes, making him fall back with a yell while clutching his face.

Kicking the hero back further, Match quickly got up and grabbed one of Superboy's legs. With a great deal of strength he flung the blind hero towards one of the damaged drop ships were he crashed into its cockpit. Fighting the pain in his eyes, Superboy saw an incoming white shape barreling towards him and moved at the last possible second. A loud crash erupted from where he was as Match hit the aircraft with his fists going through its instrument panels. Acting fast, the shirt wearing fighter grabbed his foe from behind and leapt towards the metal wall several yards away, burying his brother's face in the metal before bracing himself to suplex him onto the ground below.

Landing high on his back and neck, Match found himself dazed with Superboy taking control. With a hard shoulder tackle, Superboy knocked his bizarre brother back towards the aircraft and landed a flying punch with all the strength he could muster to send him crashing into the plane's cockpit. Allowing no time for Match to recover, Superboy fired his own heat vision and exploded the vehicles fuel tank, causing a massive explosion and fire that covered the hanger Bay.

Away from the titanic battle that managed to rock the entire structure, Nightwing and his team were slowly pushing the numerous Manta troopers back to clean a space to land the bio ship. Bullets flew through the air, but none could catch the red and yellow blur that drew their attention. As they concentrated on Wally, Artemis sought to take them down from a distance while Nightwing kept it up close and personal. Unconscious bodies lay sprawled all around them. But the more they took out, more would take their place.

"Artemis, cover La'gaan!" Nightwing ordered.

"I don't need help!" La'gaan yelled as he swatted three soldiers to the side. Despite his protest several exploding arrows struck the ground several meters from him, forcing a few troopers to fall off the side of the curved platform they were on.

"Listen, rook, we watch each other's backs out here!" Artemis yelled as she landed behind him.

With a yell, the aquatic member of the team charged forward to attack more soldiers. Some stood their ground while others fled as the ballooned Atlantean wildly swung his arms to and fro as he continued to yell. She didn't care who stood up to him. He had to take his anger out on someone, anyone, not because he was tortured or degraded at the hands of his enemy, not because he had his pride broken by a copy of who he considered his rival, but because M'gaan had said** his** name instead.

"Back off, Lagaan," Nightwing yelled. "That's an order!"

"Hey, fish face!" Artemis yelled. "Get back here and cover-" Faster than she could register, Artemis saw a large curved piece of scaffolding cut through the air. It struck her in the back and sent the archer flying over the edge as she let out a panicked scream.

"Artemis!" Nightwing yelled. Seeing his teammate thrown off the curved outer platform they were on made him rush to her aid with the fear of losing his longtime friend. It was made worse by the fact that it was La'gaan who was responsible for the entire thing and never even noticing what he did.

Grabbing a pressurized grapple gun, Nightwing prepared to swing down to catch his squad mate before she slammed into the see below when a sharp, burning sensation struck a shoulder. With a yell, he fell to the ground and clutched his injured shoulder as blood shot out of a bullet sized hole.

"Artemis? Artemis!" Wally yelled as he saw his girlfriend fall off the side and her crossbows lying on the ground. "M'gann, save Artemis!"

Dispatching of several more soldiers, the Martian girl turned to aid her falling friend when a large explosion rocked the side of the base. A large fireball erupted from the side of one of the nearby structures, sending burning debris out into the ocean and prevented her to come to her ally's aid. Another large explosion took over half of the platform with numerous pieces of debris flying into the air and fireballs erupting from every possible orifice. The resulting destruction shook the entire base as the bombs Wally had planted earlier had finally gone off as the timer he had dropped finally reached zero.

Getting back to his feet after that last explosion, Wally rushed to where he saw his girlfriend fall. "Artemis!" he could see her tumbling the long distance to the ocean below with suddenly, she was nowhere to be seen. One moment she was falling, the next she had disappeared. The rest of the debris around her crashed and sank into the water but she was nowhere among them.

"Artemis!" he yelled again when he heard his name.

Looking up towards the sun, he saw the green clad archer floating down to him. Her head was tilted back with her hand on her forehead. Not only was he shocked to see her above him but it was a bigger shock to see her rescuer, Conner.

"S… Superboy? You can-" A wide eyed Wally barely was able to say when he noticed the slight stumble Superboy took as he landed. He still wasn't completely used to flying.

"She's okay," his friend told him as he sat Artemis down on her feet.

"Artemis are you…" Giving her a quick look over, Wally only saw a large bruise begin to form on her back and left arm then hugged her from the fear of nearly losing her.

"I'm okay," she told him. "I'm just-"

"Guys!" Nightwing yelled. "I need help here!" Hiding under a large piece of metal, Nightwing took cover from several soldiers who were firing at him. Bullets ricocheted around him but none could get a clear shot due to his chosen cover and several smoke pellets he tossed around him. The soldiers were dealt with as Superboy unleashed his heat vision to knock them off their perch. As the last of the soldiers fell to the ground, completely knocked out, the three made it over to Nightwing.

"Dude, I thought you were a ninja," Wally said when he reached him. "Totally disillusioned now."

"Hey, Batman's gotten shot a time or two himself." With a grunt, Nightwing allowed Wally and Artemis to help him to his feet as Superboy kept an eye out. "Just, whatever you do, no one tell Batman about this."

"Guys, they're retreating!" La'gaan announced as he came back to join them, shrinking back to his normal size.

You," Wally angrily said. "You nearly killed Artemis!"

"I did not," the Atlantean countered. "I took out the rest of them by-"

"You knocked me off the platform rook." Artemis sternly told him. "Just shut up and help Wally with Nightwing. We gotta get-"

"Wait!" Superboy ordered. "Where's M'gann? I don't feel her."

"Feel her?" La'gaan asked. "Angelfish? How can-"

"Shut it!" Superboy said. Lightly, he could hear his name being called in his mind and knew exactly where she was. "M'gann!" He took off in a full sprint back towards the hanger.

"Connor!" Artemis yelled after him. "Wal, get Nightwing to be bio ship. I'll go with Connor." She handed him the ship's summing device Miss Martian had once given the team should they need it. Grabbing the only working Crossbow lying on the ground, she followed her comrade should he need help with Miss Martian.

"I'm going too," La'gaan yelled as he to join them.

"Come on, buddy, were getting out of here," Wally told his injured friend. He helped Nightwing over to a cleared out area large enough to have the bio ship land.

"M'gann?!" yelled Superboy. The soft voice in his head became louder the further he ran.

Coming around a wide turn, Superboy stopped momentarily at what he saw. The temporary pause gave Artemis and La'gaan an opportunity to catch up as he whispered, "Oh no."

There lying on the ground was a large white creature surrounded by burning debris. It laid perfectly still, letting out otherworldly high-pitched moans of pain. The lanky alien creature, as powerful as a seemed, looked so weak and frail.

"What, what the heck is that ugly thing?" La'gaan asked.

"M'gann? Connor…" Artemis' mind went blank when she saw what Superboy saw who at that moment was desperately trying to clear out the largest of the burning debris.

"What are you doing?" La'gaan asked. "We're not here for that monster, we're here for M'gann."

"**That is M'gann**!" Connor yelled back at the Atlantean.

Reaching her side, Conner carefully scooped her in his arms. "M'gann? M'gann, please, wake up."

He lightly tapped the side of the white alien's face. When he got no response, save for a pitiful moan, he shut his eyes tightly in spoke in his mind. "_M'gann, please hear me. I need you to wake up_. "

No answer.

"_Come on, don't do this. You're stronger than this. Wake up, please. I don't want… I can't lose you again_."

He pressed his forehead to hers.

"_Come back to me. Please, wake up and come back to me. I_-"

The sudden feeling of a three fingered hand on his cheek made him stop and open his eyes. The once Hazel eyes of M'gann were now open and were a glowing red. The two stared at each other for a moment until Connor bent down and kissed the alien on the forehead.

"_C…Conner?_"

"_I'm here. You need to change back. We're leaving this place now_."

"_I_…" Slowly, the alien known as Miss Martian morphed back into her usual humanlike shape. Her black and red costume covered her body as her skin became green once again. "Connor."

"I wasn't going to lose you again." He intertwined his fingers with hers. "Never again."

"Angelfish?" La'gaan took a step forward. His bulging red eyes refused to leave Miss Martian as the image of what he saw earlier refused to leave his finned head.

Looking back at him with a blank, stone like face that seemed to issue a challenge, Conner didn't say a word. M'gann on the other hand had a nervous look on her as she locked eyes with her aquatic teammate. No words, vocal or telepathic, occurred between them when a loud explosion occurred from further down the platform. All four sets of eyes looked upon the hanger and saw a burning individual stand up in the middle of the fiery hanger and let out a remorseless roar. Only the lower half of his white suit remained among the tattered portion that covered his torso. Where the red "S" on his chest was burned off, was now a backwards "S" and shield that was burned into his skin.

"Artemis," Connor said. "You and La'gaan take M'gann out of here."

As Artemis went to help her friend, La'gaan stayed behind. Not even Artemis' beckoning made him move to help. Instead, he shook his head, never looking away from the Martian as he took several more steps back.

"La'gaan?" M'gann weakly said. It wasn't a call for help but more of surprise as a single word aimed at her echoed through his mind so loudly, that it was impossible not to read. The others picked up on it as well.

"No, I… your… your ug…" With that he turned and leapt into the ocean with the words 'ugly' and 'monster' trailing behind him.

"Jeez, are you kidding me?" Artemis yelled. "I ever see him again I'll shoot an arrow up his-"

"Artemis, just take M'gann to safety." Helping her up, Conner helped Artemis take the injured Martian by wrapping an arm over the archer's shoulder as she looked back at him.

"Connor… I-"

"I know," he said. "I love you too."

As Artemis helped Miss Martian away from battle, she turned back momentarily. "Connor, I swear if you don't come back I'll kill you myself."

He didn't respond. He only focused on Match standing in the middle of the burning hanger. Both clones, the bizarre one and the half human stared each other down. Connor tightened his hands into fists, making them pop from the pressure as he readied himself for this, the final knockdown; drag out fight with his older brother.

To be continued


	9. Chapter 9

9.

4:29pm – Mount Justice

For the first time in close to three hours, Mount Justice was quiet. Sparks popped out of the exposed wires with trails of smoke coming from what the Sparks lightly burned. The floating 3-D computer screens flickered as they tried to come to life despite most of the power being out. Rocks, large and small, littered the interior to make it resemble the first attack all over again. Bodies of Manta soldiers lay in an unconscious pile atop the training floor as it continuously sent an electrical shock through them to keep them down. Wolf kept a close eye on any who may attempt to get free, but none did. Others were tied up or bolted to the walls from Blue Beetle's "Staples".

"Ugh, if I ever see another Manta Soldier again it'll be too, too soon," Bumblebee groaned as she took what was left of her mask off. Her entire left sleeve was missing and was replaced with a white gauze bandage covering her bicep.

"Oh, Karen, you know you had fun." Sitting a few meters to her teammate's right, Cassie gathered up her lasso as Blue Beetle restrained the last of the soldiers.

"So I take it _you_ had fun then?"

"Oh yeah." After kicking a helmet from one of the soldiers across the room, the blonde heroine glanced over to her comrade. "It's just disappointing they only sent half an army. And they ruined my shirt."

"That reminds me," Mal said as he worked on getting the power back on properly. "Where do you guys get your costumes?"

"Story for another day, Mal," Bumblebee, aka Karen, answered.

"Yeah, well, I'm going to the mall tomorrow," Cassie said as she took off her shirt, leaving only a red Wonder Woman sports bra on and put her hand through the large hole in the garment's back. "I only have two of these left."

As they rested, Sphere rolled in from the garage area after making sure there were no others outside the mountain and headed over to Mal. "Good job roly poly," Cassie told the mechanical device.

"Yeah, she went all facehugger on those guys while Wolf went Cujo," Blue Beetle said as he joined the heroines with a slight limp in his step. Sphere beeped her thanks. "Okay, that's the last of them. They're all tagged and bagged." He froze momentarily as he turned his head slightly to the left. "What do you mean one's unaccounted for? Did one of the soldiers escape? What?!"

"What now?" Karen asked.

"My Scarab, it read the bio signs of everyone in the cave and-"

"Guys!" Garfield yelled as he arrived at the entrance way of where the medical rooms were at. "Conner's gone!"

"What?" Mal asked. "He's comatose, how could he be gone?"

"I don't know, but his room's totally destroyed."

Both superheroines looked each other with wide eyes. "Oh crap," Cassie said. "Megan's gonna put** us** into comas."

4:30pm - Black Manta's Base

With a hard thud, Superboy crashed into a concrete and steel wall from being thrown by Match. His torso was soon rammed into by a shoulder charge from the bizarre clone, driving him further into the wall. Blood flew from his mouth as a result from the impact, surprising him with the amount that came out. If humans could bleed from fighting each other than the same could be said for Kryptonians.

With a roar, Match threw Superboy across the battered hanger where he tumbled to a stop. His fingers dug into the floor to slow him down when he leapt up at his opponent with his fist cocked back. Before he could land a punch, Match blocked both of Superboy's fists and delivered a headbutt of his own, sending the half human back to the ground.

A grunt forced its way out of Superboy as Match buried both feet into his chest. His air supply was then cut off as the crazed clone began to choke the life out of him. Struggling to breathe, Conner couldn't break the solid vice grip around his neck. He couldn't even concentrate enough to use his heat vision to set himself free. Match put more pressure into choking his quarry as a sickening grin spread on his face.

With his face turning purple from lack of oxygen, Superboy felt his strength fading. He was desperate to get free. Spittle flew through clinched teeth as put what little strength he had left into prying Match's hands off when he felt his arms and hands begin a tingle. Looking from the face of his "brother" to his own hands, Superboy could only feel the strange sensation increase and now Match could feel it as well. It continued to build up inside him when it finally reached a point where it had to be released. The pressure within him was unleashed through his fists and was powerful enough to knock Match high into the air until he crashed into the ceiling. His body slammed back on the ground with a thud as debris from overhead fell on him.

Gasping for air as he sat up, Superboy looked down at his hands. "Wha…what is this?" His hands shook slightly, an after effect from what he had just done to the best of his knowledge.

Looking up at the sound of a roar, he saw Match grab a fallen girder and hurled it at him like a javelin. Without enough time to move, he crossed his arms and front of his head and upper body to brace himself from the hit. It never came as the heavy metal object impacted a foot from where he stood. The entire girder crumpled in on itself like it had crashed into an invisible wall. Not only was Superboy confused by this but so was Match who also became infuriated and fired his heat vision.

With less than a second to react, Superboy fired his heat vision to counter the attack and both clones found themselves in a power struggle for dominance. The point in which their heat vision met traveled back and forth. Residual heat warmed the air around them to increase the temperature in the already burning hanger as well as melt any and all close lying metal. Neither were losing or gaining ground from their stalemate and Superboy's patients in the fight was just about finished. He wanted this to end as soon as possible.

Concentrating on using his heat vision, Superboy tried to get whatever that tingle was to get back in his arms. When he felt it occur in his head, he dropped his heat vision and took to the air. He ignored the feeling of being hit in the foot and losing a boot as he rose above his adversary and felt the tingling sensation move from his head through his neck, back, shoulders, arms, and finally unleash from his fists in less than the time it took to blink, the overall sensation felt like a chill running down his body. The resulting force blast collided with Match and crushed him to the ground in a large crater.

Taking a dive bomb, Superboy crashed into his bizarre brother and began to slam his fists into him with everything he had, letting out a rage filled roar of his own. He would have continued hit him if it not have been for the sound of straining metal and the ground caving in. The two fell the mile below the hanger and crashed onto the floor below.

Black Manta's escape sub:

Far across the base within the escape sub of Black Manta, the last of the two heavily armed guards fell to Kaldur's feet. He didn't have time to savor his victory as his father quickly attacked him from behind. The electrified trident barely missed the top of his head as he rolled away and got into the defensive stance.

"I'll give you one thing," Black Manta said. "You know how to fight well. But you're still no match for me."

"We shall see."

With a yell, Kaldur attacked his father with both water swords raised over his head. Coming down in an arc, they were blocked by Black Manta's trident. The counter attack was barely dodged as he swung the speared tips at his son's abdomen and only just missed.

"Give up, Kaldur'ahm. You don't stand a chance at defeating me, not even on your best-" As Black Manta taunted his son while they fought, he left himself open for an attack, which Kaldur took advantage of and knocked his helmet off using one of his weapons as a barbed whip. He followed that up with a leg sweep, sending his father to the ground with a hard thud.

"You were saying?" Kaldur asked as he stood over Manta who crawled away to retrieve his weapon before standing again. "I told you. Today is a new day. I will not leave here without you. You will pay for your crimes."

"The only crime here is a son turning on his father."

Charging his son, Black Manta laid into him with several powerful attacks. He managed to knock Kaldur on his back and stood over him. The hero's weapons lay several feet away out of reach with the sharpened tips of Manta's trident aimed at his throat.

"It ends here Kaldur'ahm. As I told you, not even on your-"

"Best day!" Slamming his hands on the ground, Kaldur sent an electrical current through the metallic floor of the sub a shocked Black Manta. Electrical energy cycled through him, causing his trident to explode in the process.

After a yell of pain, Kaldur's father fell to his knees and crumpled to the floor as his son looked on. "Sleep… sleep it off, father. Because I'm taking you in."

Getting up with a grunt, Kaldur reached up to his ear where his communicator was. "Nightwing. Nightwing come in. Anyone of the team, come in."

When no answer came, he let out a sigh of frustration. "If anyone can hear this, you need to get out now. I'll meet up with you twenty miles from the base. I have Black Manta."

Surface of the base:

Across the base, Wally and Nightwing entered the bio ship which had finally arrived. After sitting his friend down in the ship's cockpit area, Wally removed his gloves and grabbed a field med kit from the back. When he returned, Nightwing already had his armored sleeve and shoulder covering off.

"You're lucky that armor of yours comes off in pieces," Wally told him. "Or you'd be in a larger world of hurt."

"I think the guy was luckier that his bullet found a weak spot between the plates." With a grunt, Nightwing reached out and grabbed a small pistol like device from the med-kit. "Load one of the gel cartridges in this."

"Ah, dude, those things hurt," Wally moaned as he took out a small brown cube and loaded the device.

"Yeah, but it gets the job done."

Positioning the device where he was shot, Nightwing injected the medicated gel into the wound and let out a grunt from the pain. The gel shot into where the bullet was, fished it out, and sealed the wound. The small metal object made a light clink as it hit the floor and rolled towards Wally's foot.

"Ew. Glad I'm not in the hero game full-time anymore."

"Ugh, yeah, stuff really stings. Just don't tell Batman."

"Wal, Wing, you guys in there?" Artemis called as she and Miss Martian entered the ship.

"Yeah, just playing doctor," Wally told her.

"We need to get out of here. The whole place is-"

"We ain't going anywhere," Nightwing said as he applied pressure to his wound. "Kaldur's-"

"Kaldur is the one who told us to leave." Artemis said. "He said the entire structures coming down after informing me about not being able to raise you or Wally on your communicators."

"They must have been damaged. Fine, Miss M, take off and circle the area. We need to keep an eye out for both Kaldur out at sea and Conner. Try to get a mental link with them and… wait, where's La'gaan?"

"He-" Miss Martian was about to tell him what happened when Artemis cut her off.

"He bugged out when the explosions got worse and when Match came back. Guess he had enough of him from the first time."

"Tuh, sissy," Wally said.

"_Artemis_…" Miss Martian said mentally. "_Why did you_-"

"_Because now's not the time. We've got to go._"

Match's holding chamber:

The fall took a lot out of them. Both superpowered beings grunted as a got to their feet on opposite sides of the room. A loud blaring noise and yellow lights filled the air around them with a voice announcing something that sounded like a countdown; however, the two didn't pay any mind to it. Reaching out, Superboy used a large metal structure surrounding a central pod to help him up. The moment he placed his hand on it, it began to sting and burn, forcing him to pull back quickly.

"Rrrrgh, what is…" Looking at where he put his hand he saw a rather large crack in the metal with a green light emanating from it. "Kryptonite," he whispered to himself.

The moment he said that word, he was tackled from behind. Match threw punches like a man possessed but had no form behind his attack. Catching one of his fists, Superboy twisted his arm around and forced him face first into the ground as he locked in an arm bar then and landed several elbows to the back of his head and neck before being forced to move away from where they fought. His body felt as if thousands of needles were picking him as he tried to put as much distance between him, Match, and the encased kryptonite.

Behind him he could hear Match let out a scream of pain. The crack in the metal containing the kryptonite was larger than he thought due to a large piece of metal sticking out from the top, completely ripping it open. He could only thank his human half for not allowing the same pain to course through him.

Looking at Match roar and become enraged as he was, Superboy could only see himself. The idea of him acting the same way had Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad not have freedom from Cadmus when they did actually frightened him. He could have ended up as a mindless being whose sole purpose is to destroy, a true living weapon. Every bad thing that has ever happened to him paled in comparison as he stared at his inner demon and fear personified.

Saliva dripped from the bizarre clone's mouth as he fought to move away. Once the pain began to ebb, he trained his sights on Superboy once again a moment before being knocked into the metal wall of the room where his "younger brother" landed rights and lefts to the evil beings torso and face. His fists were a blur of motion as he used his anger to bring his brother down before throwing him back towards the Kryptonite filled container and center pod. Superboy's fingerless gloves were in tatters from the assault but his fists remained clinched. He was going to make sure that if it came down to it, if there could be only one left standing, it would be him when a familiar voice echoed through the room.

"Excellent. Most excellent, Conner."

"Lex?" Superboy said. Where are you?!"

"Far enough away to safely monitor my two boys fight. You did a most splendid job in showing me who the better clone is, my son."

"I am not your son!"

"Face it, my boy. I had you created inside a laboratory to make you perfect."

"And never age? You think that's perfect?!"

"Oh, you'll age, just not as fast as your peers. You have your Kryptonian heritage to thank for that, and your looks. But the anger, the human DNA you possess, the intellect, you are the best parts of me. I made you in my image and gave you the powers of Superman. Although that other power you demonstrated is a bit of a surprise, no doubt a side effect from the G-gnomes. But all in all, what does that tell you?"

Superboy searched the room for any sign as to how Lex Luther was monitoring him when he saw a camera about thirty feet up. "I am not you. And I am not Superman. It doesn't matter where I was born. It doesn't matter where my powers come from. And it doesn't matter what I wear on my chest. All that matters is what I do, what actions I take." He could feel the tingle in his arms again. "Never call me, Conner again. To you, I am my own **Superman**!" Winding his arms back and thrusting them out in front of him, Conner unleashed a powerful force blast to the camera and destroyed a good part of the wall along with it. "And I'm no boy."

With the voice of his so-called father silenced, he turned back to face Match and was shocked to find him actually glowing green. A large shard of kryptonite was buried in his skin along his torso. Thick veins pulsated throughout his body, shining brightly with his eyes doing the same. What was a low pain filled grunt at first turned into a yell that was so filled with pain, Conner himself could feel it. Not letting him even try to remove the shard, Conner charged at what was considered the prime clone of Superman and nailed a knee to his jaw. The attack sent Match back into his pod, which Conner shut and welded the seam of with his heat vision.

With Match trapped inside the confines of the pod with the shard of kryptonite embedded in him, Conner released a long breath and leaned on his forearm. His relief was only temporary as the electronic voice from earlier once again came to life.

"Warning, the self-destruct sequence has entered its final stage. All personnel have been evacuated. You now have one minute to reach minimum safe distance."

After hearing the electronic voice warn Conner of the fate of the base, he looked up and saw numerous explosions erupting from the walls as large debris rained down around him.

To be continued

**AN: Was torn between adding the Tactile Telekinesis or not but since Conner is a G-gnome (as established in the second ep) and they have mental powers, I decided to include a form of it after reading about it. Besides, this here's fan fiction and the fans rule here. **

**Also, I was thinking that it would be kinda loony to keep calling a grown man Super "boy". I mean, think about it. He's 34 years old and enters Mount Justice with the electronic voice announcing "Recognized, B04, Superboy" when he's got two kids running around with an 8 month pregnant Mrs. Martian-Kent at home waiting for him with a tray of fresh baked cookies and fishboy's head mounted to a wall so his and M'gann's children can play darts with and they still call him Superboy? I don't think so. I don't think so.**


	10. Chapter 10

10.

Bio Ship – 20 miles from Manta's base:

"Can you see anything?" Artemis asked Wally is both looked out opposite Windows of the bio ship.

"No, nothing," he told her. Double M, can you find them yet?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't. I'm still getting residual effects from Psimon's mental trap. I can't detect anyone outside of the ship." Try as she could, Miss Martian couldn't mentally detect Kaldur or Conner. It was like searching through the static filled channels Conner would watch constantly for anything remotely resembling a TV show. "If we don't find Kaldur or get any word from Conner I'm-"

"There he is," Wally announced.

"Conner?"

"No, Kaldur." Moving from his position by the window, Wally ran to the back of the ship. "Head a mile southwest and drop down to pick him up. I'm going to get him in."

As the ship descended to the ocean surface where Kaldur waited on the escape sub, the rear hatch opened and dropped down a ramp for the former leader of the team. Once it was close enough he drug a bound and unconscious Black Manta with him, which surprised the ginger.

"Oh man, never thought I would see you again so soon," Wally told him. "Dude, cool." Grabbing Manta's belt buckle, he pried it off and flipped it in the air like a coin. "Souvenir."

"Where's Nightwing?" Kaldur asked as he secured his beaten father in the ship's cargo area.

"He's in the front. Why?"

"Because when I detached my father's private escape sub of from the base it triggered the self-destruction protocol."

"Oh crap. We need to get Supey, he still back there. Megan!"

"No, we can't go back for him," Kaldur yelled as Wally zipped into the front of the ship. "There's not much time left. We can't risk getting caught in the blast zone."

"Why? How big is it?"

"Remember Malina Island?"

Match's holding chamber – Manta's base:

Large chunks of metal and concrete crashed into the ground around Conner who tried to dodge what he could while looking for any possible exit to the surface. Even parts of the drop ships he and Match damaged or destroyed fell from the mile high surface of the hanger area with flaming debris raining down on him. As the base began to tremble underneath him, he knew he had a little time to get out.

"Another crash course of flying," he muttered.

Squatting down to charge his legs for a powerful leap, he shot upward with his hands stretched out before him. Remembering what M'gann, Rocket, and the other fliers once told him about flying, he controlled his direction by moving his hands and head where he wanted to go as his body followed.

Dodging some of the larger debris, Conner found himself slowing down slightly but quickly corrected himself and increased his speed. The smaller objects were batted away or blasted with his heat vision while others were obliterated by his new force blast power. Every blast was like an extension of his punches, making the concrete and metal shatter on impact. He was close to the midway point when he saw a large piece of the ceiling come tumbling down. Conner's eyes grew wide when he saw it began to rotate as he neared it. A blast of heat vision as well as his concussional blast only created a hole in its center, giving him no choice but to shoot through it and hope for the best.

Slamming his arms to his sides, he picked up speed and threaded the hole he created with his body. The other side of the slab almost slapped him out of the air, but he only concentrated on picking up more speed. It wasn't long until he reached the top of the chamber with a roar when a bright light incased him and the entire base exploded.

Those in the Bio ship were forced to brace themselves from the shockwave that rocked te aircraft end over end. Nightwing crashed into a console, landing on his bad shoulder as Wally landed on his back with the large glass of the front of the ship being the only thing separating him from falling into the ocean. Kaldur barely managed to stop himself from falling out of his chair, which he held onto for dear life. Artemis slid next to Nightwing with Miss Martian landing on top her.

"Conner!" M'gann shouted as she scrambled to her feet and floated back to her pilot's chair. "Were going back."

"Megan," Wally said.

"I don't want to hear it, Wally. We're going back."

"I'm not arguing with you. It's just, well; can you please turn the ship right side up? Kinda nervous about being on the window if you know what I mean."

As the base exploded in a brilliant ball of fire, a small object came shooting out from one of the larger explosions. While insignificant at first, it didn't fall into the ocean but flew in a straight line away from the destroyed structure with a long trail of smoke flowing from behind it.

In tattered clothes that were singed and burnt, Conner emerged from the exploding base looking a little worse for wear. Dried blood spotted his face along with black scorch marks. His fingerless gloves were torn from the punches he delivered and a boot was missing. The jeans he wore were a total loss as they were torn with half of his pants right leg completely torn off. Holes were in the knees, several belt loops were torn along with his belt being busted, and his left back pocket flapped behind him with a hole where it used to cling onto. As for his shirt, it was torn and burnt in a way that left only the red "S" shield on the front with the back torn in a way that it resembled a short tattered black cape.

Once he was far enough away from the destruction, Conner straightened up to a vertical position and turned to look back at what was left of the base. He instinctively put out his arms as if digging into the air would slow him down but eventually he learned how to bring himself to a complete stop. Black smoke covered the ocean surface as smaller fiery explosions shot skyward.

"Kicked their aster," he muttered with a grin before looking down and saw his exposed foot. "Thu, another one of my favorite boots gone." It then dawned on him that his right leg was slightly lifted and bent at the knee, exactly like all the other flyers do, and he quickly put it down. Why they all did that he would never know.

Closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply, filling his lungs completely with the salty air before slowly exhaling when the familiar sound of a vehicle came up behind him. Turning, he saw the team, his team as they all stood in the window which she floated up to. The side of the bio ship opened to allow him entry and once in, he was greeted by his old teammates.

"Supey's back, er er," Wally said as he pumped both hands into the air.

"Great," Artemis said as she hugged him. "Now I don't have to kill you." She was surprised when he actually returned her hug.

"I thought you were-"

"Long story. Ends with me, Dick, Wally, and Kaldur being moles."

"Kaldur?" Conner said, looking at the Atlantean.

"Calm down, my friend. It was all a ruse to get in with the light. We will explain later." Kaldur held his hands up as he said that.

Looking from his former leader/enemy, Conner noticed a sleeping Nightwing. "What happened to him?"

"Shot. Passed out on painkillers," Wally informed him.

It was then, after he saw Nightwing's shoulder from where he stood, when he saw M'gann standing in the back and locked eyes with her. He moved past the others to stand in front of her and noticed she had been crying. The two stood in silence, taking in the sight of the other. Conner, as battered as he was, could only concentrate on the bruises, scratches, and light scorch marks on M'gann's lime colored skin.

"Are…are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine."

"Good." He was about to say something more when a sob burst from her mouth and new tears fell down her face.

"I… I'm sorry," she said. "For… for all the wrong and hurt I caused you. I tried to help you by, by getting the Kryp…Kryptonite out if you but… I-"

"M'gann," a small smirk developed on Conner's face. "Shut up."

He stepped forward as she fell into his arms and the two held each other tight. "I'm sorry to," he told her. I shouldn't have pushed you away like that. I should have been there for you. They're your powers. I can't tell you what you can and can't do with them. But I-"

"No," she continued to sob. "I should have listened to you, should have been better. I never wanted to hurt you. I just didn't want to lose you."

Both apologized for different reasons; for not being there for the other, for betraying a fragile trust, for the abuse of one's power, and for refusing to talk to the other. However, both knew each were forgiven at that moment.

"Uh, dude," Wally said. "This is the part where you kiss her."

Looking back at the ginger speedster, Conner replied, "I know that," and cupped M'gann's face to give her a deep kiss, which she eagerly fell into.

"Hold on," Artemis said as her two friends made up before her. "You're not mad that he said that?"

"Let's just say, he hasn't gotten on my nerves. Yet." Conner said during a momentary pause between him and M'gann as he rested his forehead on hers.

"One more thing, Con Con. " Wally slapped a hand on his shoulder. "Whatever happened to you saying 'no capes'?" he asked while indicating Conner's torn shirt.

Slowly, Conner looked up from staring at M'gann and a very familiar look took over his face. "Okay, now he's on my nerves."

As he turned to catch his friend, the others began to laugh and slow Wally down to allow Conner to catch him as he chased him around the ship. None noticed their sleeping leader muttered lightly.

"Whelmed," Nightwing softly said as he continued to snooze.

8:37pm – Mount Justice – Three days later:

"**PARTAY**!" Wally yelled over the loud music playing and the celebratory chatter.

The entire team, past and present, were there in the cave having a good time in celebrating the victory they had earned as well as Captain Marvel who had turned back into Billy Baxton and was currently in a soda and cake induced coma. Crumbs littered his face and cans were scattered around him. Over in the training area, several others played a form of darts using hollowfied projections of their enemies with Batman's newer protégés keeping a close score. Mal stayed in a corner with Karen, hoping she wouldn't want to dance by keeping her stocked up with fruit flavored punch. His plan was working out well enough until Flo Rida's "Good Feeling" began to play and she grabbed him by the arm, forcing him to a somewhat empty area where the two could dance.

Make way for** the** partay animal!" Hopping on one foot, Garfield, looking like his usual half human half monkey self, tossed his crutches away and headed for a large open space in the middle of the repaired living room.

"Gar, no!" Artemis yelled as the boy took a nosedive to the ground. "Your leg."

Ignoring her, the shape shifter morphed into a turtle and spun on his back. His rotations increased dramatically until he morphed back to his normal self and rested on his side with his head propped up on an arm.

"I love doing that," he laughed.

"I'm surprised you can use your powers with a cast on." Kaldur told him from behind the teen.

"It's a party. I can stand a little pain. Now can you please help me up into the kitchen? I do have a broken leg after all."

Across the room, Dick Grayson stood with a smile as both the new and old team enjoyed themselves. He wore his civies and actually had his sunglasses off for a change.

"Hey, Wing."

He turned to face the newly repaired Zeta tubes as Black Canary and Green Arrow joined him with Red Tornado close behind. "Hey BC, GA, RT."

"We just came by to check on you before heading to the Watchtower for the League's party. You're not the only ones who came away with the victory," Black Canary told him.

"And don't forget a private party afterward," Green Arrow added as he draped his arm around her.

"We're just fine," Dick told her when Jamie stumbled out from a nearby hallway. His mouth had lipstick covering it which he tried to hide when he saw his leader and the three Leaguers. Shortly after, Cassie roughly planted in arm around him. Her lipstick was smudged and she didn't bother in trying to hide it. "Some more than others."

They watched the two head back over to the living area before Dick turned back to Black Canary. "It's just a shame. Lex, Queen Bee, and Ra's weren't at the base you attacked."

"Don't worry about it," Green Arrow told him. "We have more than enough information to go after them as well as who this "partner" is."

"But for now, enjoy your victory and don't get too wild down here, kids," Black Canary told him."

"No problem," Dick said. "And what about you, RT? You're gonna go party with the League?"

"Apparently, yes. I was told I could, as Flash put it, 'get down with my bad self'. However, I will instead be monitoring for any disturbances," the android informed him.

"Right. GA, bring back some videos of that."

"Will do, Wing." Green Arrow said with a small salute. "Will-"

"Oh my goodness," Black Canary interrupted. Her eyes were locked on the large amount of food in the kitchen and she just had to go over to see it up close. "What did you guys do? Rob a bakery?"

Cakes, cookies, pies, turnovers, and other sweet treats were stacked on the tables among the barbecued meats and other food. Large coolers rested on the ground, full of ice, water bottles, and seemingly every soft drink known to man. It was insane the amount of stuff to eat that was available.

"No, it was our resident Susie home Martian," Wally told her as he zipped in to grab a handful of cookies, much to Artemis' chagrin.

"M'gann did all this? She hasn't done anything like this since she and Conner-"

"Yup," Garfield told her, eating a large slice of banana cake. "Told ya she only really cooks when she's happy."

"Speaking of which," Wally said with a mouth full of sugary food. "Where are Megs and Con Con?"

"They're having a private party," Zatanna told him when she and Rocket overheard them. "For the third day in a row."

"Private party? This _is_ the party! Why are they having a private party?"

"Wally, think about it," Dick said as he slapped a hand on his friends shoulder. "They're having a "private party"? By themselves?"

When Wally didn't get it, Artemis replaced Dick's hand with her own. "They're a couple? Wanting to be alone? Like us when we…"

"Ohhhhhhhh," Wally finally said. "Ew."

"Yeah, I agree," Garfield said. "Note my Ew."

"Baywatch," Artemis said as she kissed the speedster with her arms around his neck. "How did I ever in up with you?"

Outside the cave, near the ledge of a Cliff, Conner sat on the ground against a tree with M'gann sitting between his legs with her back against him. Despite the cool breeze that blew around them, she wore only a pair of capris with a black long sleeve shirt that matched Conner's. He in turn went back to wearing his normal jeans and short-sleeved black T-shirt. And he of course had a new favorite pair of boots on; identical to the ones he had lost. Both were engaged in a deep kiss in the light of the full Moon with the sound of the waves below being slightly drowned out by the loud music from the cave.

"You sure you don't want to go inside?" Conner asked as he further wrapped his arms around her.

"No, I'm happy right here," she said with a giggle. Her green skinned cheeks turn red from his affection. The same sparkle in her eyes and happiness in her voice when she was with him had returned since they reunited and he was determined to keep her like that, always.

"Listen, about-"

"Don't. Please don't say his name again."

"M'gann, whatever he said, whatever he thought, it's not true."

"I know." She stroked a finger along the neck of his shirt. "It just hurts when someone, anyone says those things. I know I shouldn't care, but it still hurts."

"M'gann," he said as he lifted her face to look at him. "Human, Martian, tan, green, white, it doesn't matter what you look like because I see the real you inside, the only part that matters. And that's what I love about you."

A large smile appeared on her face. "I love you too, Conner."

"Besides, you did kind of see the psycho in me and liked me anyways."

"Where did you come up with that?" she asked.

"Some kind of genius."

With a giggle, she leaned her head back on his chest and looked at the moon. "So, my Kryptonian can fly and go Jedi now. But how good are you really in the air?"

Grinning, Conner stood up and went over to the edge of the cliff as he walked backwards. Instead of falling off into the water, he stepped into the empty airspace as if he were walking on solid ground. "I don't know. I've been practicing during our breaks. So you tell me."

Floating over to him with a smile, M'gann wrapped her arms around his neck as they floated a little ways from the cliff. "Showoff."

"Not really." He placed his forehead on hers before going in for another liplock.

"Nuh, uh," she playfully said as she pulled away slightly. "If you want more of that," she moved his hands to the top of her capris. "And more of this, you've got to earn it."

"How?" He asked with a grin.

She floated away from him and ascended into the air a few feet away. "You've got to catch me."

A mischievous grin etched itself on his face as he assumed a position to bolt after her. His stubbornness wouldn't allow her to get away from him, just as it would not allow him to lose her again. She helped save his life by removing the Kryptonite from his body and he had saved hers by coming to her aid at the oceanic base. It was a gesture the two had repeated time and time again since the team was first formed.

With the grins never leaving their faces, he shot after his happily laughing Martian and the two flew into the open sky with him in pursuit, disappearing in the light of the full Moon.

**End**

A big **THANK YOU** for all those who've read this. I really hope you all enjoyed reading it. Looking forward to seeing the rest of season two in a couple of weeks but the first season will always be my favorite (not really feeling the new additions except for Beast Boy and Blue Beetle). For those that followed, favorite, and reviewed/commented, a big **THANK YOU** goes out to ya'll as well.

And like the others, music to go along with the story. (It's just what popped in my head while writing this)

"Good Feeling" by Flo Rida – (Party song)

"You Could Be Mine" by Guns 'n Roses – (Overall song-Love the fast pace it has)


End file.
